


Dark

by bladespark



Category: Legend of Zelda, Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-18
Updated: 2012-07-18
Packaged: 2017-11-08 00:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 36,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/437271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bladespark/pseuds/bladespark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We all know that Link must fight and kill his shadow. But what if the victorious hero had chosen to have mercy on his defeated darker side? What then?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Light the Casts the Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> This is just the beginning of a moderately long story. I have the whole thing written and will be posting chapters regularly until it's all uploaded here. Thank you for reading!

It was gray.

That was all I knew at first, gray. The sky above was cloudy and gray. The shallow water below reflected it. The mist that filled the room was gray too, everything was gray. Even the sandy islet and the dead tree that stood there were in subdued tones. There was no color in this world.

I was one with the mist and the water. I existed, but I had little awareness. I had no eyes to see, no hands to feel. No feet to stand on. I was aware of the gray around me only dimly.

But I had a purpose.

I didn't know what it was, but I felt it burning in me. There would come a moment when I would fulfill my purpose, and I waited for that moment with the patience that only a being such as I, formless and knowing nothing other than waiting, could have.

I do not know how much time passed. It might have been days, it might have been years. But the day came when the door that led to the gray chamber opened.

Color suddenly entered my world. Gold, red, blue, vivid tones that I had never seen came into my world, born by the being who stepped through the door. My purpose flared brightly in me from the moment his boot touched the water that stood in the misty chamber. And more than my purpose, my identity.

I was him. I remembered him, his life, in a flash. His childhood among the peaceful Kokiri. His quest to save a princess and a kingdom. His experiences and his skills, all poured into me. And more, for his very being became mine, and in that moment I had form and flesh. But more still, for I had my purpose, and that purpose took those memories and showed me their futility. He served light, but light was destined to fail. Darkness has ruled his kingdom for seven years, and it would rule it for a seven thousand more. Light stood no chance against it.

He was nearly across the chamber by the time I finished becoming. I appeared with a sneer on my face, certain of victory. I existed to destroy him. I had been created for it, and I would not fail.

The little spark that hovered by his shoulder cried out warning, and he spun, but I gave him no time for thought, I attacked, my sword that was the twin to his sword raised high. He countered. I had known he would. I knew his training intimately, it was my training too. Nevertheless I was confident. Darkness was stronger than light. I would win.

He backed away from me, and I nearly laughed. He knew it too, he was afraid! He reached for his bow, but it was easy to block the arrows, I knew where they would be aimed before he shot them. He attacked again with his sword, but that was even simpler, I blocked every blow. And he failed to block several of mine. My confidence soared, I was indeed his better!

And then he stepped back and sheathed his sword. I could read his face all too easily, he was planning something, some new attack. But what would it be?

Then he pulled a great war hammer from his magical pack. I felt a flicker of unease. I had no hammer of my own, I had been provided only with sword and shield. And while the shield served well to counter the arrows and most of the other weapons I knew he bore, the hammer was different. It could break the shield. Still my purpose drove me, so I moved to attack him again. He must die. Killing him was my world, it was all I knew.

I dodged his first hammer blow, and hope welled up in me. Then the second slammed into me, and I only just blocked it with the shield. I was thrown back from the blow, and the shield was cracked.

Another blow and I was left only with ruined shards attached to my arm.

The last I could neither block nor dodge. I could hear my own bones breaking as it hit me in the chest. Pain filled me and I fell to lie in the shallow water. I dimly heard the sound of the door I had guarded opening. He had beaten me and the way lay open before him. I had failed. And I was dying. The gray I had always known was giving way to black, which slowly closed in around me.

Then I heard something I had not expected. Footsteps splashing through the shallow water. Blue eyes, bright and intense, looked down into mine. I didn't know their color. But his were a blue so brilliant the purity of it hurt. The hurt would be gone soon with all the others. Already my body felt distant, numb.

There was yet another sound, the sound of a bottle being uncorked. It was followed by a fluttering of fairy wings. And then, amazingly, miraculously, the pain that filled me faded. Not to blackness and death, but to health, to healing. I sat up, and he, the owner of those blue eyes, stepped back from me. He turned towards the door that I had failed to guard.

"Wait!" I called out, surprised by the sound of my own voice. He stopped and turned. "Why?" I asked. "Why did you heal me?"

He said nothing, but simply turned again and left, his fairy following after him.

And the door shut, leaving me alone in a colorless world once more.


	2. Fire Burning in Darkness

"You have failed me!"

"Please, my Master, if you give me another chance I won't fail again!" I cringed away from the expected blow, but it fell all the same, flinging me across the room. Why had I come here? What madness had convinced me to obey and report to Ganondorf? How could I have thought he would respond to my news with anything but punishment?

"You've had your chance! You hardly slowed him down. He needs to die, and quickly. I will have to set something stronger to stop him now, and I am running out of resources. You were supposed to be his equal! You were supposed to be able to match him!"

"But Master, I only had a sword, he had the hammer!"

Ganondorf's dark face twisted with rage, and crackling energy leapt from his outstretched hand. I screamed when it hit me, it brought agony worse than the pain of dying. "Give me no excuses! You should have succeeded!" Another bolt shot out at me.

"Ahh! Please Master!"

But Ganondorf knew no mercy, his torturous magic struck me again and again, until I was near death. And even then he was not kind enough to kill me and free me from pain. He merely turned away and left me lying in agony. Eventually one of his servants came and dragged me off. I didn't care to where. All I wanted was a release from pain, but there was no blue-eyed hero with a jar of fairies here. Instead what I got was a dark cell beneath Ganondorf's tower. It had no bed, nothing but a bare stone floor, where I was left lying. The cold of it seeped into my very bones.

I could remember warmth... The gray room in the Water Temple had been cold, but I could remember warmth... Camp fires, sunny summer days, the heat of the Fire Temple... I could remember them, even though I'd never known them. Would never know them. I knew darkness. The darkness in Ganondorf's heart lay in my heart as well, enough of it for me to know that he would never let me free. He might bring me out to toy with, from time to time, but I would live here in the cell until I died. Until he killed me. Better that Link, the hero, had killed me. It would have been clean and easy compared to this.

And were it not for him I would have no summer days to miss, no camp fires to dream of. He had given me his past, and that too brought only pain.

"Why didn't you kill me, Link? Why?" I cried. My weak voice echoed off the cold stones. There was no one to hear. But someday there would be. I vowed it to myself. Someday, somehow, I would be free of this cell, and when I was I would hunt him down and demand an answer of him. And when I got it, then he would die.


	3. Darkness Falls

Darkness and cold had been my world for I know not how long when something changed.

It began with a strange feeling. My pulse quickened, and an alien excitement tingled through me. I wanted to pick up my sword and face... something. But of course I had no sword, the dark blade had been taken from me. Still the feeling persisted and I got to my feet. Then I heard a distant sound from the tower overhead. It was faint, ever so faint, but it sounded like the clash of combat.

Suddenly I knew. He was here. The blue-eyed hero, my other self, Link. He was here, fighting Ganondorf.

I sat in the cell, straining to hear, trying to somehow reach through whatever tenuous connection existed between us to see and feel. What was going on above me? Was Link losing? Surely he was no match for Ganondorf's power. I shuffled through my memories, his memories, but there was no memory of any great magics there, only a few basic spells, and the unknown power of the Master Sword. He must surely lose, and I would be robbed of my vengeance. But at least I could take comfort in knowing that he was dead.

The roar that suddenly came from overhead was tremendous. It sounded as though the whole castle was falling down above me. But I could still sense my other half, he was not dead yet. Indeed he didn't even seem to be severely wounded! What was going on up there? The roar quieted, but after a moment I could faintly hear a booming, like enormous footsteps. A flash of pain told me that Link had been injured but I knew he yet lived. And then... then the impossible happened. With one last crash silence fell and triumph radiated through that strange connection to me. Triumph! Mixed with relief and weariness, but unmistakable all the same.

Link had won.

But darkness was stronger. I _knew_ darkness was stronger. How had light triumphed? How had the ultimate master of darkness fallen? That a shadow like myself could be defeated was perhaps not surprising, but Ganondorf was far beyond me. How had Link done it?

I was left to ponder those thoughts in the dark for a long time. Indeed I feared I might be left forever. The castle was fallen. Ganondorf's servants and guards had no doubt fled. There were other cells here, but as far as I could tell I was alone in the darkness. Even the torch that usually burned in the entrance to the dungeon soon went out and then there was nothing but pitch black, so dark I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face.

My connection with Link had snuffed out like the torch as well. I didn't know what that meant. I had felt no pain from him, so whatever had happened to him he was probably still alive, somewhere. But it left me with nothing to concentrate on, no connection to reality at all, save the cold stones I sat upon. I drew my knees up to my chest and shivered. So cold. So dark. So alone. I would die here, I knew.

And then, faintly, I began to see. The stones of my cell appeared before me, and soon the door was outlined in brilliant white. Someone or something bearing a bright light was standing just outside the door. I heard the key turn, and the door swung open.

I squinted against sudden brilliance, though when my eyes adjusted I saw it was only an ordinary lantern. A woman bore it.

She was tall, and dressed as a warrior. Her shoulders were broad, and her hair was silver-gray. "So," she said, "there is someone here after all. Come, you're free now. Ganondorf is dead."

I looked at her in silence while confused emotions warred within me. Ganondorf was dead, light had somehow triumphed over darkness. But I was alive, and free. I could seek out Link and kill him, as I had hoped. But that thought, welcome as it was, brought fear with it. Link had killed Ganondorf, who had created me and who was my better. How could I then best him?

The woman frowned at me. "You look familiar," she said, her eyes narrowed.

I felt a jolt of fear. If she figured out that I was Link's dark twin, she would know I was evil. "I think we met once, a long time ago," I said. "And thank you for freeing me, uh, I know your name, it's right on the tip of my tongue..."

"Impa," she said with a smile. "And who are you? But no, let us be gone from this dark place. We can speak more above."

"Yes," I said, relieved of the need to come up with a name on the spot. I had none, but of course I would need to call myself something if I were to move among the people of Hyrule. But what? I pondered it as I climbed the stairs behind Impa. I couldn't just call myself "Shadow" could I? Perhaps I could take a variation on Link's name, since I was his shadow. But no, I didn't want to remind Impa of him, she might put two and two together.

When we reached the top I still hadn't thought of anything good, so when Impa turned to me and said, "So, who are you, stranger?" all I could say was "I'm Dark."

"Dark? It suits your looks well enough, I suppose, but it's a bit of an odd name."

I had never thought about how I looked. Like Link, I knew that much, but obviously I was not his perfect twin. "Well I'm not from around here."

"How did you end up in Ganondorf's dungeon then?"

I scrambled to think of a story. "I, uh, I passed him on the road and I said something about how he looked, I guess he took it as an insult. He threw some kind of magic at me and when I woke up I was in the dungeon where you found me."

"You're a very lucky man. If the Hero of Time hadn't killed him he no doubt would have tortured and killed you."

"Yes, I know. I would love to find this Hero of Time and thank him personally." Thank him with his own sword through his heart.

"There are many who would," said Impa solemnly. "But none will be able to. The seventh sage, the princess Zelda, has sent him home through time to live in peace."

No! He could not have escaped my vengeance so easily! I tried to hide my dismay, and I must have succeeded in some small measure, for Impa didn't seem to notice. "Through time, you say?"

"Yes. Back to the past, though not to our past. His time will run differently from ours, now."

"Actually," said another voice, "I'm afraid it didn't work."

I looked over and saw two people approaching. One was obviously the one who had spoken, a young woman clad in pink and gold. Beside her... I had to school my face to avoid a snarl of hatred. Beside her walked Link himself.

"Zelda? What happened?" asked Impa.

Zelda, for this must be she, answered. "Nothing at all. I played the song, the spell was cast, but Link remained in the present. Something is tying him here. Some connection that I can't trace."

As she spoke Link's eyes had met mine. I saw recognition in them. He knew who I was. And more. I saw the realization spark in his eyes in the same instant it sparked in mine. Some connection tied him here. Something like his shadow, perhaps.

"Strange," said Impa.

"Yes. But who is this?" she asked.

"This is Dark," said Impa. "He was a prisoner in Ganondorf's tower."

Zelda nodded regally at me. I managed a civil enough nod in return.

"Well Dark, it seems you have the chance to thank Link for rescuing you after all," said Impa.

I blinked in surprise. Then I grinned savagely. Yes, I could thank Link for giving me the chance to find a way to kill him. "Oh yes," I said. "Thank you very much for saving my life. I owe you." I could tell that my hatred was seeping into my tone, but I didn't care. I glared darkly at Link, the fair-haired, perfect hero who had just killed Ganondorf and yet hardly bore a scratch.

He said nothing for a long moment, then he nodded at me. "You're welcome." He said no more than that, but those two words carried a great weight of knowledge. He knew I hated him. Somehow he knew. But I felt no hate from him at all. Only calm. He looked at me with those brilliant blue eyes, as still and cool as pools, without a ripple of fear or unease. Was that how a hero looked at the world?

I wanted to stab out those eyes. I wanted to jump on him and tear his throat out with my own teeth. I wanted to take my vengeance then and there, but he bore his sword and shield, and I was unarmed. It would have to wait. But it wouldn't wait long. Once I could get him somewhere, alone and unarmed... yes. Once that happened his life would be mine.


	4. Shadowing

All of Hyrule seemed to be wild with glee. Every person in the whole land was rejoicing, except me. There had been the bonfire celebration that first night, when it seemed the entire nation had gathered in one place to dance and sing and drink to Ganondorf's death. And then the rebuilding had begun, the remnants of Ganondorf's tower had been torn down and a new castle was growing on the spot. The market town too was being rebuilt, and everyone spoke of the return of hope and prosperity.

I was just as glad to see the tower's remains go, it was only a reminder of the failure of darkness. I still didn't understand how it was possible. I knew that darkness was the stronger force. How had light won? And not just once, but over and over, for Link had defeated me and countless others just to reach Ganondorf.

I brooded on it yet again as I sat and watched Link. He was on the rocky ground in front of the slowly rising castle, practicing with his sword. I knew all those moves well, I could almost feel the weight of the sword in my hand. But my blade was gone. I had acquired a dagger, so I would be ready to kill when I met Link unarmed. I had considered a sword, but the dagger could be more easily concealed. And I was beginning to think that stealth and subterfuge were my only options, for I had never yet seen Link without his sword. He even slept with the damn blade by his side.

The sun gleamed off the silvery steel. He still carried the Master Sword, since he had not been sent back in time to return it to its place in the Temple of Time. That was my doing, I knew. It made me feel a little smug, though it also made me wonder. He knew I was the cause of his current troubles. I knew that he knew. But he had never spoken of it. Not to me, and not to Zelda or Impa or any of his other friends either. If I didn't know better I would have thought he was mute, he spoke so little. I wished I knew what he was up to. My memories of him told me that he could not possibly be plotting something against me, he had never been one to plot, and yet he surely must be up to something or he would have told somebody by now that I was the one keeping him trapped in the present!

I growled under my breath as I watched him. The sunlight touched his hair to blazing gold. He was so bright, just as he had been that first time, when he brought color into my gray world. He wore his green tunic today, as he so often did, and against the dullness of the dead earth around him he gleamed like a jewel.

I knew that I must be visible as well, in fact he had probably noticed me and was simply ignoring my presence. I had seen a mirror now, so I knew what I looked like. Like him, yes. My face was his face. But my hair was jet black, my eyes were ruby red, and I had fangs, small but sharp, which no Hylean I'd ever seen had. I wore black as well, it was the color I felt most comfortable with, though I had taken care to choose clothing of a completely different cut than Link's tunic and trews.

It still amazed me, though, how nobody had noticed my resemblance to their hero. Impa finding me familiar was the closest any had come. And yet I was him repainted by a different brush. It made me wonder if any of his friends were actually seeing Link, or were they just seeing the Hero of Time? Did they notice his face at all, or was it just the sword they saw? Would any of them recognize him if he donned the clothing I was wearing? And if I donned his, would they think I was he? I laughed at the thought. No, surely somebody would notice the hair, at least. My jet black was nothing like his vivid gold. But still, it made me glad that I wasn't a hero. He was showered in praise and attention whenever he went out in public, I had seen that as I followed him, looking for my chance to strike. He didn't seem particularly comfortable with it. And if anything he was even more silent with his admirers. The two words I'd gotten in response to my hatred were two words more than I'd ever seen him give in response to their adulation.

"Hya!" He danced back and forth, sword spinning and flashing. I wanted to go down there and fight him, meet his sword with my own. The urge was strangely divorced from my desire to kill him. I knew that sword to sword we were evenly matched, and he had resources I did not, if we met in straightforward battle he would win again. But something in me yearned to be there with him, strong and free in the sunlight.

What would happen if I got a sword and went out there to practice with him? He didn't hate me as I hated him. How would he respond?

That thought lingered in me as I went about my day. I spent most of it trailing him, of course. I didn't want to miss my chance. But I took some time to see if I could acquire a suitable blade and shield. The shield was easy, nearly any shield would do. The blade was harder. I needed one similar in weight and shape to the Master Sword.

While I sought a blade, Link aided the rebuilding. He took some time to himself, but most of the time he was volunteering in the town, or aiding with the new castle's construction.

Since I was shadowing him everywhere I ended up doing much of the same work as he. Nothing looks out of place more amid a bustle of busy workers than someone just standing around doing nothing. And I did not find the work unpleasant. There was something vaguely satisfying in quitting at the end of the day and being able to see what I had built standing there.

This new feeling troubled me. I had known determination. I had known hatred and fear and pain. But this was something different. This was like Link's memories, like the way I could recall _him_ feeling after he had accomplished some task. I didn't want to become any more like _him_ than I already was! And I feared that this strange satisfaction would blunt my rage, distract me from my revenge. So I was very glad when I finally got my hands on a sword. Facing him would let me renew my hatred, and remind myself of my goal, I was sure of it.

I was pleased when he went out to practice the following day. I watched as usual for a time, then I picked up my own sword and shield and walked out onto the barren ground before him.

He straightened from his fighting crouch and regarded me calmly. I stopped a short distance from him and drew my sword. He lifted his slightly, prepared to block, but remained silent.

I growled at him, "I'm just here to practice with you, not to kill you. Not today, anyway."

He nodded, but still said nothing. I bared my teeth, suddenly wanting to beat some sort of response out of him, but that would get me nowhere. Instead I moved in on him, sword raised.

We met in a whirlwind of steel. I hammered at him, but he blocked every stroke. And every time he attempted to get past my guard I blocked him as well. Steel clashed on steel over and over as we moved back and forth across the makeshift practice field.

I felt a kind of exhilaration to be fighting so. It didn't even really matter that I faced my hated enemy, simply using my skills, letting my muscles work as they hadn't in far too long, was glorious. I laughed suddenly, and Link grinned at me. I might hate him, but in this at least we felt the same. We both loved combat.

But eventually we both began to tire. It was Link who broke it off first, stepping back and raising his sword. I stepped back as well and sheathed my blade. We were both panting hard, and both grinning as well. It had been so much fun! But as my blood cooled paradoxically my rage heated. How dare he stand there grinning silently at me! Why wouldn't he speak? Why didn't he explain himself? The more I looked the more my hatred and anger grew, and at last I could contain them no longer.

"Why won't you speak? Do you want people to think you're mute?"

Link just shrugged and sheathed his sword.

"Well, say something!"

"What is there to say?"

"Ha, so you can speak! Well, there's plenty to say. You could say, for starters, why you haven't told anyone who I am!"

Link shrugged again. "I see no reason to."

"No reason to? You're not an idiot, you have to know that I'm the reason Zelda couldn't send you back to your own time! You're trapped here because of me. And they have no idea why. But you do! All you have to do is tell them, and they could no doubt get me out of the way one way or another and send you back!"

Link chuckled softly. "That assumes I want to go back."

I gaped at him. "What?"

Link just smiled.

I growled at him. "Why wouldn't you want to go back? You'd get to grow up in peace."

Link slung his shield over his back and turned to go.

"Hey! Come back here and finish explaining this to me! Why the hell are you giving up the chance to not have to do any of this? You could relax, enjoy all those years you missed, have something like a normal childhood. You would probably be best buddies with the little Princess, maybe even marry her, all that! So why give it up?"

"Peace is overrated," Link said over his shoulder, "and so is marriage." He walked away leaving me standing there stunned. Peace is overrated? The Hero of Time was saying that? Or had I somehow been following some _other_ evil shadow Link? What was going on here? And what the hell did he mean about marriage? I once more shuffled through our shared memories, but the only thing related to marriage I could find there was his bafflement at the Zora Princess Ruto's bold assumption that they would be wed. Had that somehow made him decide to dislike marriage? I couldn't remember any such decision.

"Gah," I said, and kicked a rock across the ground, feeling the need to express my confusion and frustration somehow. I was going to go mad if I had to deal with that enigmatic bastard much longer. I hoped I could kill him soon.


	5. To Soothe the Savage

The scaffolding that still surrounded the partially rebuilt Hyrule Castle made a good place to brood. It was night, the moon bright overhead. Link was presumably asleep. I knew where his room lay, but it was one place where I had difficulty watching him. It was on the second floor, and there was no scaffolding directly outside it. And I had to sleep sometimes myself, much as I wished I could watch for my chance at all times. Night seemed more likely to yield opportunities. Though not as many as I might have hoped. Whether Link knew what I was up to or whether he was still merely operating on wartime footing despite the fact that peace had broken out I didn't know, but I had found none yet, for he was always within reach of the Master Sword.

I needed to think of a new approach. The closest I'd gotten to him yet was while we sparred, which we did often now. But approaching him with weapon in hand was never going to get me anywhere. We were too evenly matched. It was very rare that either of us got a touch on the other during our sparring matches, and should I press the attack in earnest he merely had to resort to one of his other weapons and I would have no recourse. He carried them all with him, in a pouch that had to be magical, since some of the items were bigger than it was.

But how could I catch him off guard? How could I get the sword and that pouch away from him? I turned countless ideas over in my head. Somehow I had to get close to him, that was the key. I came close during our sparring matches, but those were all wrong. I had to get close to him when the sword was sheathed, at least, even if he never actually set it aside.

I could think of no other option, I was going to have to try and befriend him somehow.

As I plotted in the darkness, I heard a gentle whisper of sound floating out on the night air. It was music. Familiar music. The soft, hollow tones of an ocarina, a sound I knew very well. I didn't recognize the song, it was not one of the magical melodies I knew. It was a wandering tune, and I suspected the musician was improvising, simply playing whatever came to mind.

It was Link, of course. Thinking of him should have stoked my rage, but the music was too calm for that. It reminded me of the still pools of his eyes. I closed my own eyes and drifted in the sound.

When at last the song ended I was left with another puzzle. How could I find such peace in a thing of my enemy's creation? I hated Link with all of whatever soul I might have. And yet I was sad that he had stopped playing, I wanted to hear more. I suddenly wished I had an ocarina, so that I could answer his melody with one of my own. I didn't understand this urge. I wanted to kill him, and sparring with him was only a way to hone my skills. But there was no such explanation for this urge.

I turned this new puzzle over in my mind until the moon was low in the sky, then with a sigh I climbed down from the scaffolding where I'd perched and sought my bed. I had no answers, but this peaceful moment would not undermine my resolve, Link still must die.

But as I lay in my bed I heard the music begin once again, and the anger faded from me. I sighed softly, and drifted to peaceful slumber with Link's song faintly echoing in my ears. And for the fist time since waking in the Water Temple I slept without nightmares.


	6. Bonds

I have found that I always know where Link is. How great a distance this bond will operate over I'm not sure. I did lose him for a moment while he was in some mystic other realm after defeating Ganondorf, but since then I've always known in what direction to go to find him.

I followed that tug one morning from the castle towards the market town, expecting to find him assisting in repairs as usual, but the faint sense of him drew me through the town and out into Hyrule field.

I stood on the repaired drawbridge and stared at the empty, grassy expanse for a long time. I had never been in a place this open, and somehow it was frightening. I'd lived most of my life, if it could be called that, in a single room within the Water Temple. I'd used a network of secret passageways linked by Ganondorf's magic to return and report to him after my failure. And then I'd been locked inside his tower. The largest open space I'd ever seen was the rocky plain in front of the new castle, where Link and I sparred. But this was different. The sparring ground had open sky above, yes, but it was also surrounded by hills and cliffs. This was completely open, nothing but grass to the distant horizon. Nothing at all between me and the vast sky above. I swallowed, fear rising in me.

Still, my hated enemy had gone this way, and I must follow. So, taking a deep breath, I stepped off the drawbridge and onto the field itself.

Nothing came out of the vast sky to strike me down, so I gathered what courage I could and set out across the field. I could see no sign of Link, he must be well ahead of me. I jogged a little faster, hoping to catch up with him. But night fell with no sign of him. The vast emptiness of the grassy plain was easier to bear during darkness. I wanted to run on, but weariness forced me to stop and make a sketchy camp. Far in the distance I could see a tiny glowing speck. It was a campfire, probably Link's. He was further ahead of me than I'd thought.

With a sinking sensation I remembered Epona. Of course he was. I'd been walking, he had been riding. I would never catch up with him. But I had to try. I couldn't just let him ride off! He could not be allowed to escape his fate at my hands!

When the morning dawned I set off as swiftly as I could. Link seemed to be headed for Lon Lon Ranch, I might be able to catch him if he stopped there. Or perhaps I could somehow acquire a horse myself. None of their other stock compared with Epona, I knew that, but any horse would be better than none at all.

That day was pure misery. My sword and shield weighed me down, but I didn't want to abandon them, I might need them. The sun baked down on me as I jogged across the grass, and soon I was sweating. My black clothing didn't help, it only added to the misery. And the whole time some small part of my mind was screaming about the distant horizon, the emptiness of the plain around me, and my vulnerability to the open sky. I felt like an ant on a tabletop, and some giant might reach down and crush me at any moment.

Hot, footsore, soaked with sweat, and half crazed with fear, I welcomed the setting sun with exhausted relief. I didn't even make a camp, I just lay in the grass and watched the sky darken with nightfall. I did scan the horizon for a campfire, but I saw none. Instead, just a bit above the horizon, I saw a little cluster of lights. Lon Lon Ranch, and Link had probably reached it by now.

I sighed. I wouldn't get there until tomorrow night, and by then Link would almost certainly have moved on.

The third day in the open was even worse than the previous two, but at last, as the sun sank low, I reached the ranch. Stepping inside the palisade that surrounded it was a profound relief. There was something between me and the sky again.

I plodded up the ramp that led into the ranch proper, feeling at the end of my strength. I wasn't sure what I was going to do when I got to the top. Scout out the situation and try to steal a horse, probably.

At the top I looked over the central paddock, where a scattering of horses grazed. Amid them was one with a rider, cantering across the grassy open space and leaping the practice jumps placed there. I blinked at it, feeling extremely confused. It was Epona, and the rider was Link. What was he doing still here? Several people were watching him, and one of them, a red-haired young woman I recognized from Link's memories as Malon, noticed me and waved cheerfully. "Hello there! You must be Link's friend Dark!"

I gaped at her. "Uh. Yes?"

"Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch. You look tired. Would you like to sleep?"

I tried to shake off my confusion and figure out what the hell was going on, but I was just too exhausted. "Yes, that would be good," I managed. I would sleep, and figure this all out in the morning.

Morning initially brought only more confusion. I emerged from the room where I'd slept to find Link waiting for me. In one hand he held Epona's reins. In the other the reins of a second horse. As I approached he held them out to me. "Her name is Dust," he said.

"What?"

"She's yours."

Hesitantly I reached out to take the reins. I felt like they might bite me. What was going on here?

Link swung easily into the saddle. I followed his example, still completely confused. What the hell was Link up to? He nudged Epona into a walk and I put my heels to my horse as well. Malon and her father waved goodbye to us as we set off down the ramp and out into Hyrule Field once again. But when Link turned as if to ride on along his original course I drew rein. "Hey, hold on a minute."

Link halted Epona and looked over at me mildly. "Yes?"

I snarled. "What the hell are you doing?"

"You're very brave," he said.

I blinked at that. "Uh... what?"

"The last three days. I could tell you were afraid, but you followed me anyway."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I growled at him, though I knew perfectly well what he meant. Obviously our bond ran both ways, and as I could sense his infuriating calm, he could sense my feelings, which included knowing how terrified the open space here made me.

He smiled and touched his heels to his horse again. She started off across the grass, and I hastily sent my own animal after her. "Why did you get me a horse?" I asked.

"You'd rather walk?"

"No! But why would you want me to come with you?"

"You obviously wanted to come very badly."

"That's not an answer."

Link just shrugged. I gave up. He didn't want to talk, fine, we wouldn't talk. Whatever crazed reason he had for giving me the horse, he was just playing into my hands. I'd decided I would have to somehow befriend him. It was entirely to my benefit that he had made the first move in that direction.

As we rode I wasn't able to brood on my plans for him the way I might have liked. Awareness of the empty space all around me kept intruding on my thoughts. Being on horseback made it no easier than being on foot, I was still a creeping ant, horribly exposed. There was nowhere to hide. I wanted to fling myself from the horse's back and try to burrow into the ground. But I didn't. I was going to see this through and nothing was going to stop me.

I caught Link looking at me from time to time, and something like sympathy shone in his eyes. I glared at him. I didn't need his sympathy. I kicked my horse into a canter and ran ahead of him. He let me get a little space between us before following. I ignored him and just let the horse run. The wind through my hair was calming, distracting me from my fear.

We were still in the middle of the grasslands when the sun set. Link had taken the lead again, and now he drew rein and dismounted. We set up a simple camp in silence. Link never said anything, of course, but I couldn't think of anything to say either. I wanted to pin him down and force some answers out of him, but so far none of the answers he'd given me had been satisfying at all. Was there any point in trying to make further sense of him? I would have thought, given our shared memories, that I'd understand him easily, but he was completely baffling to me. I knew he'd always been quiet and self-contained, that hadn't changed, but something else had, and I didn't know what.

We sat by the fire, watching the last of the sunset color fade from the sky. Link took out his ocarina and began to play. The first tune I recognized, it was Epona's song, and the mare came over and nuzzled him affectionately as he played. When he finished he patted her cheek and smiled. Then he lifted the instrument again, and this time he played something I'd never heard before. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the music. It was like the song I'd heard him play back at the castle, a wandering, melancholy tune. Something in it relaxed me, loosening the knot of anger and hatred at my core. I should have been afraid of that, afraid of losing my edge, of becoming too much like him. But the song soothed that fear away too, leaving me in peace.

I sighed regretfully when the music stopped. Link opened his eyes and smiled at me. Even in the firelight their blue color was vivid and compelling. "Did you like that?"

I blinked. He'd never spoken to me without prompting before. And I felt strange, the peaceful feeling from his music lingered and I felt oddly lost without my rage. "Yes," I said hesitantly.

"Would you like to play?" He reached into his bag and pulled out a second ocarina. I recognized it, it was the one Saria had given him. I took it and lifted it to my lips. I'd never played before, but like fighting, playing came to me naturally. I soon lost myself in the music, pouring everything within me into the song. It was a sorrowful tune, sadder than the gentle melancholy of Link's playing. There was an ache within me that I had never noticed. The anger and hatred had hidden it from me, but now all the pain and regret I felt spilled out in liquid notes, floating on the still night air. I played until the moon was well above the horizon, before finally letting the ocarina fall from my lips.

I went to hand it back to Link, but he shook his head. "Keep it."

"Thank you." I tucked the instrument into a pocket, still feeling strange.

"We should sleep," said Link.

He rolled himself in his bedroll with his sword still at his side, and that sight brought a flicker of my old anger back to light. He might pretend we were friends, but he obviously didn't trust me.

Well, that was wise of him. I couldn't be trusted. I was going to kill him, just as soon as I caught him with his guard down. Though a little voice reminded me that I myself had lowered my guard only minutes ago, and that thought made me uneasy. I was not becoming Link's friend. I was only pretending, so that he would come to trust me and I would get my chance to kill him, that was all. I repeated that thought and nursed my anger until the familiar, burning flame once more raged within me.

I fell asleep to thoughts of my revenge, and my dreams were once again troubled, full of darkness and fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dark's fear of open spaces here is based on my own feelings. They do say always write what you know! I'm not quite as completely terrified as he is, but I could never live somewhere that was flat and open. :)


	7. Beneath the Surface

We rode on the next day. For a long time I brooded in silence, but the fear that nibbled around the edges of my mind wouldn't let me think in peace. I ought to be getting used to it, but I wasn't, it was still just as bad as it had ever been. Fanning the fires of my hatred could push fear aside for a time, but it always came back.

Finally in something approaching desperation I moved to ride level with Link and tried once again to engage him in conversation.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know," said Link.

"You're taking an awfully straight course for somebody who doesn't know where he's going," I said irritably.

Link chuckled. "Well, I do know my first goal. I am leaving Hyrule. But I have no idea where I will go once I am outside its borders. I know very little of the world out there."

"Leaving Hyrule?" Once again he had startled me. "Why?"

"Hyrule doesn't need me."

"You mean since Ganondorf is dead now," I said bitterly.

"Yes," was his only reply, apparently he'd used up his allotment of words for the day.

I growled in irritation, the rage in me building. "How?" I finally burst out. "How were you able to beat him?"

Link looked solemnly over at me. "Why does it matter so much to you?"

"I... it just does! It should be impossible. Darkness is stronger than light, I know that! And he was the strongest dark mage in the world. You're not that strong! You're me, and I was no match for him. How is it possible for you to beat him?"

"I had help, for one thing. The light arrows were his weakness, and the Master Sword's power. But his own arrogance was his greatest weakness. And I see he's given it to you as well."

"What?"

"You say that darkness is stronger than light?"

"Yes!"

Link shook his head. "Your own experience should tell you otherwise. You are me, as you say. Dark me. And yet I beat you. If darkness is stronger, shouldn't you have won? If darkness was stronger, Ganondorf would have won."

"You had the hammer, if I'd had that I could have beaten you."

"Really? And what of Ganondorf then?"

"The light arrows, as you said. You found one weakness, nobody is perfect."

"Ah but remember, it was the fact that they were light arrows that made them so strong against him. Light. And he was darkness. Light drives out darkness, Dark. Lighting a candle lessens the shadows in a room, but no shadow can lessen a candle's light. Light is the stronger."

"No, you're wrong," I insisted. "No matter how many candles you light, everything still casts a shadow. Dark is eternal, it can't be destroyed."

Link fell silent, and I smiled smugly. I was right, I knew it. He had no rebuttal for me, because there was none.

The sun moved across the sky, and we moved across the plains below. My smug satisfaction at winning our argument was a small bit of armor against the fear that gnawed at me constantly. I would be very glad when we reached the far side of the plains and the hilly country there.

When the sun was nearing the horizon Link suddenly spoke up, startling me.

"Dark? Tell me, where did you come from?"

I turned my head and blinked at him. "I'm your shadow, you know that."

Link shook his head. "Shadows do not detach themselves and attack their owners of their own volition. Something caused you to come to life."

"Well... yes."

"Ganondorf made you, didn't he?"

"Yes..."

"Perhaps you should think about it then. You and I are very much alike. You have my form, my memories, and my skills. What do you think is the source of the differences between us?"

I had never thought about it. I was his dark half, so of course I would be different. I shook my head. "I don't know... I'm your shadow, shouldn't I be different? Opposite from you?"

Link chuckled. "You're left handed."

"Huh?"

"You're not my physical opposite, what makes you think you have to be my moral opposite?"

I floundered, suddenly feeling lost. Of course I was his moral opposite, I was the dark to his light. My _name_ was Dark! I belonged to Ganondorf, I was on the side of evil. Yes, that was it. "I'm one of Ganondorf's creations though, I have to be evil."

"Ah yes. Ganondorf. Who believed that darkness was stronger than light, as you do."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that you are not necessarily a being of evil. You're _me_ , Dark. We have our differences, yes, but we're more alike than different. And think about this. You're convinced that darkness is the stronger force. Where did that conviction come from? Because the facts suggest otherwise, Dark."

"I..."

"Just think about it," he interrupted.

"You're awfully verbose all of the sudden," I growled.

He smiled. "I don't waste words. But that doesn't mean I can't use them when they're necessary. They're like any other tool."

I glared at him, but I had no response. His argument made me profoundly uneasy. I knew dark was stronger because it was true. So what if Ganondorf had thought the same? We were both creatures of evil, we were willing to see the truths that soft, civilized beings of light denied, that was all. But if I said that, Link would no doubt find some way to turn the argument on its head and make me feel wrong, even though I knew I was right. I was Link's dark side, and I was going to kill him. I clung to that conviction as we rode as firmly as I clung to my saddle.

When we made camp that night I rolled myself in my blankets in silence, my back to where Link sat by the fire. I didn't want any further conversation with him, I decided I preferred it when he was acting like he was mute.

The next morning saw us finally to the edge of Hyrule Field. The closer the hills in the distance got the better I felt, and finally we were among them, and there was something between me and the horizon on all sides. I sighed in relief. If I had my way I would never cross Hyrule Field again.

There was no road among the hills, Hyrule had little contact with other kingdoms. All I knew of them was that they existed, that Hyrule was not the whole of the world. I wondered if Link knew anything more. It seemed unlikely. We were going into a complete unknown, but some part of me thrilled at that idea. There would be challenges to meet, places to explore, dangers to face, and the thought of such things stirred something in me. I found myself riding a little straighter, scanning the slopes around us for possible danger. Link was doing the same. Our eyes met briefly and he smiled wryly at me. Here was another way in which we were more alike than different.

After a day of riding among the hills we reached the shores of a lake. It was larger than Lake Hyrule, the far shore of it was misty in the distance. Link dismounted next to a stream that flowed into it, and I climbed down to help him set up camp.

With our bedrolls spread and a fire lit, we sat and watched the sun set over the lake. The sound of running water filled the silence, but soon it was joined by Link's ocarina. I took out my own and lifted it to my lips. As I had known every move he would make in combat, somehow I knew what he would play, and I found I could harmonize with him, the two instruments blending together, two notes and yet still one song. I didn't fight against the peace that the song brought this time. I was growing tired of constant turmoil.

I slept soundly that night, and woke with the dawn. Link still managed to wake before me, and I found him preparing breakfast. After we'd both eaten he looked out over the lake, the early morning sunlight gleaming on the water, and smiled. "I think it's time for a break. We're not on any particular schedule, but we've set a rapid pace these last few days. And I feel like a swim."

He sat down and took off his boots. Then he shed his sword, shield, and other gear as well.

My pulse suddenly raced. This was it.

He pulled his green tunic off over his head. I eased the sword and shield I carried to the ground as well, trying to avoid drawing his attention. He had obviously forgotten, after so much time spent together, that I was dangerous. Just as I'd hoped! He was side-on to me, he'd see if I made any sudden movements, so I walked towards him slowly, my hand on the dagger's hilt.

He pulled his blue tunic from his bag, the one that would allow him to breathe under water. I had no such shirt, but that shouldn't matter. I had the dagger, he had no weapon at all.

Without looking at me he turned and walked into the water. I walked a little faster, almost at his side, but then he dived into the lake. I cursed under my breath and followed after him, dagger now drawn.

The water was clear but cold, it hit me with a freezing shock. Beneath the surface I opened my eyes and looked around. At first I didn't see him, then I realized that he was practically beneath me, crouched on the sandy lake bottom. With a silent snarl I swung the dagger at him, cursing the way the water hindered my motions. He turned and caught my wrist, and I cursed silently again. He should have been unprepared, how had he known the blow was coming?

I struggled to free my hand and try again, but he only latched on with his other hand as well. I hissed defiance at him in a cloud of bubbles and fought harder. He was still, infuriatingly, as calm as ever. And his hands were gripping me so tightly that my hand was going numb. I clawed at him with my free hand, leaving bloody scratches on his hands and wrists, but he didn't flinch. The need to breathe was growing, my chest had started to ache. Suddenly panic filled me. He could stay here, holding me down, for as long as he needed. But I couldn't. I had to surface, and soon. I thrashed, kicking and clawing at him, but he stubbornly held on, no matter what I did. Finally I dropped the dagger, letting it fall from my nearly numb fingers, and instantly he let go. I clawed my way to the surface and broke into the air with a frantic gasp.

Link surfaced near me, and I cursed him breathlessly, using every insult and swear word I could think of. He simply swam towards the shore, no doubt thinking this was over. But I was too enraged to let him go, I swam after him and when we'd both reached a point where we could walk I tackled him from behind, sending him sprawling in the shallow water near shore.

"Damn you! Why won't you just die!"

He grunted and tried to squirm out from beneath me. I tried to get a grip on him to pin him, but he managed to get partially free and roll away from me. I dived after him again, this time pinning him in the shallows, in a foot or so of water. It did him no harm since he was still wearing that damnable tunic. But he managed to get a foot planted in the muddy lake bed and next thing I knew he'd rolled me over and I was the one beneath the water. "Give up," he said, though his voice was strangely muffled by the water. I shook my head and tried to get enough leverage to return the favor and roll him over instead. But he was sitting on my thighs, keeping me from using my legs. He'd only gotten one of my wrists, and I punched him with the other hand. He tried to grab my free arm. I kept it away from him somehow. I was starting to panic again, I needed to breathe!

Link gave up on getting my hand and just put his free hand on my shoulder, keeping me pinned. I hit him again and again but he didn't budge. "Give in, Dark," he said determinedly. I couldn't hold my breath any longer, but I was not going to give in. I'd drown first.

Suddenly Link sat back, still gripping one wrist but no longer pinning me. I managed to lift my head enough to get it above the surface and gasp a breath. I twisted out from under him and pulled as hard as I could, trying to free my wrist. But he just came with me, letting me draw him further towards the shore, until we were on solid, if muddy ground. Then with a shout he shoved me down. I pulled him with me and we both sprawled again in the mud, him atop me. But this time I didn't need to worry about drowning. So I just hit him as hard as I could with my free hand, striking again and again, until finally he managed to capture that too.

He pinned both hands to the ground and shifted, making sure he had me trapped under his weight. I snarled at him in useless defiance. We were well matched in strength, but leverage was on his side now and I knew I had lost. He was disheveled and panting, and his lip was split where I'd hit him, a trickle of blood running down his chin. He was also covered in mud, as was I. He'd lost his hat, and his hair was plastered to his head with muck. He just sat there for a moment, catching his breath.

"Damn you," I said.

He shook his head and looked down at me with that same unflappable calm.

"You should have died!"

Link sighed. "Dark... you can't sneak up on me. You should know that. The sooner you stop trying, the better off we'll both be."

I cursed again. Of course. He'd known the moment I'd thought my chance had come. That damnable bond between us. It let me follow him, but it also warned him. I couldn't best him in straight combat, and I couldn't sneak up on him. I had failed. I would always fail. I felt hot, shameful tears welling up in my eyes.

Link looked down at me with gentle sympathy and let go his grip on my wrists. His pity fanned my rage again. How dare he look at me like that! How dare he be so calm, so condescending! I would find some way to shake that infuriating calm. Even if I couldn't kill him I could do that much! I would somehow add ripples to the calm of those blue eyes.

I'm not sure where the impulse for my next action came from. Somewhere in the back of my mind something I didn't want to examine was working. But as soon as the thought came I knew that it would shake Link, I didn't have to think about it, I just knew. So I acted on the impulse without hesitation. My hand shot up, and Link flinched, but this time I wasn't trying to hit him. I grabbed a handful of mud-smeared golden hair and pulled him down to me, and I kissed him, hard and passionate.

He froze in utter shock.

I let go of his hair and lay back in the mud, laughing. "You should see your face," I said. His cheeks were flushed red and his eyes were wide. I'd made a few ripples indeed. Suddenly I felt much better.

"What in the name of the Three is wrong with you?" he said, still looking stunned. I could sense his shock.

"Well if I can't kill you, at least I can succeed in ruffling your feathers a bit," I said.

"You're a lunatic."

"So are you! You're the one who brought the person who wants you dead you along with you on this little adventure. So I guess we are still alike."

"I never would have done... that."

I laughed again. "Let me up, or I'll do it again. Or find something worse to do."

Link flushed even brighter and immediately got up off of me. "I'm going to go wash off, which is what I intended to do in the first place," said Link.

"Yeah, good idea," I said with a sigh, some of the manic glee that had filled me dying away.

"Dark..." Link looked at me, still a little uncertain and flushed. "Why do you hate me?"

"I..." I stopped. Why did I? Something about the question made me uneasy. I knew there was a reason, but what? Then I remembered that night in the dungeon, remembering sunlight and warmth. I had hated him because he had given me the memory of what I could never have. I looked up at the sunny sky above me. Was that all? Surely there was another reason. Yes, there must be. I just couldn't think of it right now, but there was a reason behind my hatred, Link deserved to die, I knew he did. "I just do," I finally said.

"You just hate me." Link shook his head. "Perhaps the way you 'just know' that darkness is superior to light?"

I glared at him. "Not that again."

Link sighed. "Just think about it, Dark."

"Fine. I'll think about it. After I get clean." I picked myself up and stalked back to the water.

I had rinsed off fairly well when I heard Link come up behind me. I tensed, expecting another confrontation, but he just silently handed me a bar of soap. "Thanks," I muttered and took it. He gave me an annoyed look, but left me in peace to finish washing.


	8. Song of Sorrow

Some time later I lay on the grass a little ways inland and stared up at the sunlight. It was a fine summer day, just such a day as I had yearned after in Ganondorf's dungeon. I sighed. Why did I hate Link? Something in me was afraid to even think about it. And that was another puzzle. Why should I fear knowing my own mind? It seemed as though nothing at all made any sense any more. Hate and anger, fear and frustration, bitter failure, they crowded around me, dragging me down. The sun was still warm, but inside me there was a coldness it couldn't touch.

I got out my ocarina and played, a soft, mellow sort of tune, letting the music wander, seeking the peace it brought. The song was calming, but it lacked the power that I had felt on previous occasions. I stopped playing, tears gathering in my eyes again as sound gave way to empty silence. What was wrong with me?

A low, soft tone filled the silence I had left. Link was playing. He spun a melody that said all that I felt. It spoke of sorrow, and of failure, of the cold within and the anger that burned at its core. It said all these things, and in saying them soothed them away. Tears still stood in my eyes but they were no longer so bitter. When the song ended Link came over and sat beside me. He rested one hand over mine. "Dark... I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," I said.

"I can feel how much you hurt," he said softly.

"But your song heals it."

"No. The song only eases the pain for a time, the wounds are still there."

I said nothing. I knew he was right.

"Is that why you hate me, because I gave you life with such pain?"

"I..." I hesitated. I could recall thinking something like that, but it didn't feel like the truth. If I wanted freedom from pain more than I wanted life, there was an easy answer to that. Killing myself would be far simpler than killing him. Yet it was his death I had sought. Why?

"I thought I could find a way to help you," he said. "When I realized you were going to follow me, I thought if you traveled by my side I could somehow save you from your darkness."

"That's why you bought me a horse."

"Yes. But the closer we are the more I can sense what you feel. I knew you were afraid, and I admired your courage. I knew you hated me, and I wanted to change that. I didn't know how much you hurt though." I looked over into those eyes, the brilliant blue eyes that had been the first color I ever saw. There were tears gathered in them.

"Link... it's not your fault. You're not the one who made me hate you." Fear shuddered through me. I was approaching the edges of something I dared not think about. Link wasn't the one who had done this to me. No. Someone else had done this. I closed my eyes, trying to think. Link... a spark of anger kindled. Link was making me think, and that was making me afraid, hurting me. I should hurt him. I gritted my teeth, trying to fight down the flare of rage.

Link's hand lifted from mine, and then the music began again. He was playing once more. It cleared my mind, freed me from the clutching rage. I tried to focus, to think. Why did I hate my other half? He was me, I was him. Why should I hate the one who was so like me? I shuddered, feeling fear try and reach me, even through Link's song. He was like me... like me except... like me except for the darkness, because I was his shadow. But I remembered our conversation. I was left-handed too. I wasn't his opposite, I was him, just darker. And the darkness had come... from... from _before I had awakened_. I remembered it suddenly, the way I had seen all his memories twisted, all that he had been put into a new, dark frame. Darkness was stronger than light. The spell that created me had contained that knowledge. And it had also contained... a purpose!

And then I knew. I didn't hate Link because of what he had done. Any reason I might have come up with was only an excuse. I hated Link because I had been created to hate him. My purpose, the purpose that had been the whole of my being before he set foot in the Water Temple, was to kill him. That was the only reason I existed. Ganondorf had made me, and put hatred and darkness into me, and now he was dead. I was nothing but a construct, a clockwork toy made of magic, set to kill his enemy, discarded because I had failed.

I wasn't even Link's shadow, I was nothing at all.

Tears streamed down my cheeks. Link should have left me to die in the Water Temple. He should have left me behind on Hyrule Field. He should have let me drown when I attacked him.

The song stopped again, and Link's arms were around me, holding me as I sobbed. "It's all right," he murmured. "It's all right Dark."

"I'm not Dark," I said through my tears. "I'm nothing. I shouldn't exist. You should have let me die!"

"Don't say that. You're not nothing, you're Dark, you're my shadow. You're my friend."

"No. I'm not. I can't be. I was made to kill you, that's all I am. A... a... a weapon, a toy with a sword, that's all. I can't be your friend. I have to hate you."

"That's why you hate me? Just because you were made to?"

"Yes." Tears were still streaming down my cheeks. I wanted to curl up and cease existing, just let myself fade away.

"Then it's Ganondorf's magic that makes you hate. But any spell can be broken..."

"The spell that makes me hate is the spell that _made_ me. If you break it I'll cease to exist. But maybe you should. Why did you save me, Link? Why didn't you just go on with your quest and leave me to die like you should have?"

"Because you were so like me. You were no mindless monster, you were my match, a warrior like myself, even if you were also just my shadow. And I could imagine what it would be like to die alone, in pain. I couldn't do that to you."

"You should have."

"No." Link's voice was firm. "No. There has to be something, some way to free you."

"There's nothing. You should just leave me. I can never be your friend."

Link's face hardened, and there was a light of determination in his eyes. "You can be. You've sparred with me for months. You've followed me all this way. You've played music with me, and talked with me, you even _kissed_ me, for the Three's sake! So you've hated me, so what? That's not you, that's Ganondorf's magic. I refuse to accept that there's nothing to be done."

"I _am_ Ganondorf's magic, that's _all_ I am!" Frustration rose in me, and sparked hatred to life again. "And if you try to be my friend, you'll have to guard your back every second, because I _will_ try to kill you any chance that I get!"

"Well so be it then! I'm a hero, I'm supposed to always be on my guard anyway. You'll just keep me extra alert!"

"That's madness."

"Then I'll be mad. But I believe there must be a way to counter the spell that makes you hate me without killing you."

"The spell and me and one and the same."

Link paused and his brow furrowed. "No. They can't be. Else you'd die when I play the song that makes you lose your hatred, Dark."

My breath caught. He was right. His music freed me from hate, and yet left me alive. "But you can't play constantly, and it wears off after you stop. It's wearing off now, I can feel it."

"So can I," said Link with a sigh. "So it won't be that easy. But it's possible. It has to be."

"Then... then what do we do?"

"We continue. I was leaving Hyrule in search of someone who needed the Hero of Time. I wanted to find a new quest, and I think I've found one. So we'll journey on, and seek, and explore the wide world out there, and somewhere we'll find a wizard, or an artifact, or a sage, something or someone who can free you."

"But... why? Why quest just to save me? I'm just one person. I'm not even a person, I'm a shadow, and less than a shadow. Surely you'll find others who need you more."

"You're my friend, Dark. That's all the reason I need."

"I am still going to try to kill you. I won't be able to help myself."

"You've been trying to kill me all this time and I'm still here. I'll manage. Trust me."

I looked up at him, looked into those deep blue eyes, and something rose up in me. Hatred flicked there, somewhere at the center of my being, but something else rose above it, overpowered it, and filled me to the brim. Tears gathered in my eyes again, but they were sweet tears, and I found I was smiling as I looked up at him. "I trust you," I said, and although I was sure it was madness to do so, I knew that it was true.


	9. Stormy Weather

I woke that next morning after an uneasy sleep. Nightmares had plagued me again, as they so often did. I sat up and looked over at Link. He was still sleeping, his eyes closed, and his hand was actually on the Master Sword's hilt where it lay beside him.

The sight sent rage flashing through me. I'd told him I trusted him, and here he was not just keeping the damned sword near, but holding it in his sleep! Well, I'd show him how futile that was. He was still asleep, all I needed to do was swing my own blade before he woke and it wouldn't matter that he had his sword in hand. I got to my feet and picked up my sword. But when I turned back, Link was awake. He looked up at me, his calm blue eyes sorrowful.

I bared my teeth in a snarl of frustration and lowered my sword.

Link sat up, still looking sadly at me. "Dark... you know you don't really want to kill me."

I bit back an angry reply and tried to calm myself. He was right, I didn't really want to kill him. And yet I did, I wanted it so badly that my failure to do so was driving me mad with frustration. Why had he woken just then? It could have all been over! But no, no, he was my friend. I didn't want it to be over. I sank down to my knees, conflicting emotions warring in me. I hated him. I hated myself. I was a failure at my purpose, I was a failure as a friend. Bleak despair overcame anger, and I wondered if simply killing myself might not be the easiest solution to this tangle.

The soft song of Link's ocarina worked its way into the darkness around me, and I lifted my head to see him playing, his eyes closed. I relaxed, letting the music wash away despair and hatred both. When he finished I climbed back to my feet with a sigh.

"Thank you," I said. "But you can't keep playing every single time I get upset."

"Perhaps," was all he said, and then he went about packing up the camp and preparing to depart as if nothing had happened. I smothered a flare of annoyance and started to pack up my own things. Soon we were both mounted and on our way, picking a path along the shore of the huge lake. We soon struck a road, somewhat overgrown but still plainly visible. It went in the same general direction we were already headed, so without a word needed we both turned onto it.

The sky above, that yesterday had been clear and bright, was crowded with clouds. The gloom suited my mood. We rode in silence, the road we followed skirting the slate-gray waters that reflected the clouded sky above. A wind began to blow, whipping up waves on the lake. I heard a distant rumble of thunder, and knew that a storm was headed our way.

The wind blew harder, and cold spray from the lake soon had me thoroughly damp and uncomfortable. Then a boom overhead made the horses shy, and a bolt of lightning crackled across the sky. The sky opened up and rain began to pour down, and almost instantly I was not just damp but soaked through. "We should look for shelter," I said, having to raise my voice to be heard over the howling wind.

Link nodded his agreement, but there was nothing but the barren hills, covered in grass and low scrub, and the lake itself. We continued, scanning the hillsides for any sign of somewhere to get out of the storm.

The road ahead of us forked, and Link, in the lead, picked the branch leading away from the lake. I nodded and followed. Perhaps back in the hills we might find a house, or a cave, or something. The path we'd chosen led us into a gap between hills that soon turned into a steep-sided ravine. I started to wonder if this had been a good choice. Dry gullies often flooded when it rained. And indeed the bottom of the ravine was soon awash in muddy water. But the road was raised a bit above this, so we went on. The howl of the wind was less here, at least, though the rain still reached us, and I was still cold and miserable. Link looked like he was as miserable as I felt. The horses plodded with their heads down, though mine shied at every growl of thunder, and I was almost thrown several times.

Then we rounded a corner and ahead of us was a temple.

That's all I could call it. It was definitely kin to the temples of Hyrule, a massive structure carved into the rock wall of the canyon, its door guarded by stone pillars decorated with unknown symbols. Link and I exchanged glances. Who knew what might lie within? But for now we both knew one thing. It would be dry. I kicked my horse into a trot, and Link followed my example. Soon we were dismounting in front of the door. Thankfully it was big enough for us to lead the horses in too.

The first chamber was a simple cube of a room, the walls decorated with more of those symbols. A door led onwards, but exploring would have to come later, for now we set about drying ourselves and the horses.

Link rubbed down Epona and I did the same for Dust. When they were more or less dry Link stripped off his soaked tunic and laid it out to dry, along with the equally soaked undershirt. He pulled out the blue Zora's tunic and shrugged it on. I took off my own shirt, but I had no spare clothing. I shivered. It was dry in here, but also cool, and the occasional damp gust from outside blew in.

Wordlessly Link handed me his red Goron's tunic. I took it gratefully and pulled it on. There was no wood here, so we couldn't build a fire. Even with a dry tunic the rest of me was still wet. I ran my hands through my hair, wringing water from it, and took off my boots. I wasn't going to go so far as to strip my trousers off though, so they still clung damply too me, and I found myself shivering again.

"I have a few deku sticks in my bag," said Link.

The idea of a fire sounded good, but... "No, they won't burn long, and you might need them later."

"The bedrolls got wet."

"I know." I noticed that Link was shivering too. And I noticed too that he was unarmed, but of course so was I. Remembering how our wrestling on the edge of the lake had gone, no doubt if I jumped on him now he'd win again. I scowled.

Though I had gotten the better of him at the end there... I smiled a bit at that thought, and looked over at my shivering twin. Well. I couldn't kill him, but I could at least gain the upper hand again. And warm myself up a bit while I was at it. I walked up to him and put my arms around him.

"Dark?" He looked puzzled.

"You're cold," I said, and pulled him closer.

"Yes, but..."

"Let me warm you up." And then I kissed him.

Link let out a startled squawk and pulled away from me. I laughed. "You're not cold?"

He scowled. "I am cold, but that is not the way to warm up."

"I don't know, it's warmed me up pretty good."

"Let me go," said Link, trying to pull free of my arms.

"You don't like it?"

"Obviously not!"

I grinned. "Well, I'm cold, so I'm not letting you go."

He shot a glare at me. I chuckled. It felt good to get one up on him. And he was warm. And I had enjoyed the kiss...

He sighed, a sound of surrender, and stopped trying to pull free from my grasp. "Well if we're going to behave like idiots we might as well be comfortable." He shrugged out of my embrace and I let him go for now. He went to Epona, and managed to get her to lie down on the floor. Then he sat next to her, his back against her side, and gestured at me, his arms open in invitation. I sat next to him and he put one arm around my shoulders. The floor wasn't too cold, and it was dry, and the horse's warmth against my back was good. As was Link's against my side. Part of me still wanted to hit him, to hurt him somehow. But in this calm moment I knew that part wasn't really me, it was the darkness that Ganondorf had planted in me.

"Why do you keep kissing me?" asked Link.

I turned my head and looked at him, noticing he was still a little bit flushed. "It's better than killing you."

"True." His blush faded and he smiled at me.

I frowned. Already that infuriating calm was returning. "What the hell does it take to upset you anyway?"

"You kissing me, apparently," was his wry reply.

"You're just so... so damn calm all the time! If you're really me, if I'm really you, why does everything upset me, and nothing upset you?"

"We're not quite the same person, Dark." Link looked down at his hand and turned it over. I saw the triforce mark on the back. I had no such mark, of course. "For one thing Ganondorf's magic has given you a burden I don't have to bear. When we free you from it, I expect many of your troubles will cease. For another, you were copied from me in the Water Temple. Some things have happened since then."

"Like what? It's only been a few months."

"Like Ganondorf's defeat, for one." He smiled, though I scowled at the memory. "Doing something like that instils a certain amount of confidence. Growing up I was just the boy without a fairy, the outcast. Then I was a boy with a quest, but I had no confidence in myself. It grew, a little, as I faced the various challenges along my way, but I was still very uncertain, going into that last battle. But I won. Having done that, I know I can do anything." He turned his smile on me and added, "And that includes freeing you from your curse."

I tried to force down another wave of hatred. I wanted to punch that smug smile right off his face. "Yeah, sure."

"I also discovered who I am."

"Who you are? That's ridiculous, you're Link. You've always been Link."

"But who is Link? Nobody in particular, I thought. When Zelda told me I would be sent back to the past though, and promised me peace..." His gaze was far away, remembering.

"You said peace was overrated."

"Yes. If you'd asked me, before that moment, what I wanted from life, I'd have said to complete my quest and return peace to the land, so that I and everybody else could live in peace. But being faced with it, I found myself unexpectedly filled with dismay. I didn't want peace. I was relieved when the spell failed and I was trapped here in the present. That's when I realized who I was. I'm the Hero of Time. That's not some kind of boast, that's just... who I am, plain and simple. And I'm not meant for peace. I have no place in a peaceful kingdom. If that moment hadn't taught me as much the months that followed would have. The only joy I've had in all that time was when I sparred with you. I knew you really would kill me, given the chance, and the danger... that was what I lived for. But of course just fighting with you accomplished nothing. I wanted to have a goal, some greater quest. So I suppose I can thank you for giving me one. And I can thank you for something else as well. You showed me that I can change destiny, that I can influence my own fate."

"Huh?"

"My destiny was to defeat Ganondorf and then be sent back to the past. All the sages thought so. They have all expressed surprise that I'm still here in the present. You are the reason I can't be sent back, I've guessed that much. But you exist because of my own actions. I decided to save you, that was my choice. And in so choosing I changed my fate. So I know now that destiny is not absolute, that fates can be altered."

"You're being verbose again."

Link chuckled. "Words are wasted on most people, they hear what they want to hear, no matter what you say. Speak little and they'll listen harder on those occasions when you do. But I know you actually listen when I speak, unlike most. You're a good friend, Dark."

"Yeah, well... if you're telling me your damned life story, what about the other thing you said, that marriage is overrated?"

"Oh. That." Link sighed.

"What?"

"I don't want to marry somebody and settle down. I was a little too relieved when Ruto gave up her supposed engagement to me in order to be a sage. I suppose you don't remember that, since it was at the end of the Water Temple. And Zelda... she's made a few comments in that direction, and I have to admit that my reaction was something like panic. I don't want to marry. Ever."

"I remember Ruto..."

"She was a strange one."

I shuffled through that stack of secondhand memories. "All the girls seem to like you."

Link flushed a bit. "Yes. But... they liked the Hero of Time. I don't know if any of them ever even noticed Link."

"I've thought that myself... nobody in Hyrule seemed to notice I was your twin. It's like they never actually looked at you."

"Yes." He shrugged. "But that's how it goes. A hero is a symbol, not a person. And I've said that the Hero of Time is who I am, so it's something I just have to live with. That's the way it will always be. I'll fight evil, and those I save will praise me, but they'll only know the Hero, they'll never really know me."

Something strange stirred in me. I was torn between being glad of any ill that might befall him, even one so petty as this, and feeling a strange sympathy. It felt like how I'd felt the night before, when I'd said I trusted him. The strange feeling welled up in me, and I found myself saying "I know you, Link," softly.

He looked up at me, and he smiled. "You do. As only my shadow could. Thank you Dark."

"Don't get too used to it," I muttered. "I still want to kill you."

"Of course you do." He grinned. "I'm feeling much warmer now, are you?"

"I guess."

"Then why don't we explore a bit, see what we've stumbled over. Maybe there will be treasure!"

I smiled wryly at his enthusiasm. "Sure. Let me get my things."

I got up, and Link rose as well. By the time I'd strapped my sword on and settled my shield over it he'd donned all his gear and was obviously eager to go.

"Come on! Let's see what this place has to offer."

I followed him through the door with mixed emotions. He was the hero. I had his memories, but I'd never sought out such adventure myself. And during the heat of battle with some monster or other, I might find a chance to kill him. Part of me leapt in excitement at the very idea, but another part of me was screaming in terror at the thought. And if and when that moment arrived, I didn't know which part would win.


	10. Close Calls

I paused for a moment and sheathed my sword so that I could wipe the sweat off of my forehead. Link halted beside me and did the same.

"I don't think I've ever seen so many stalfos," I said.

"No, me neither. I'm just glad there are two of us. They're much easier when you can get behind them."

"Yeah."

"Ready for the next room?"

"Sure."

He opened the door and we went through. We'd been through a dozen or so such doors. So far all had simply lead into more square, mostly unadorned chambers full of walking skeletons. Some had had pillars set in columns across them, a few had held a few keese as well, and one had been empty of anything we could discover. This one, however, held a treasure chest.

Link grinned. I grinned too. "Let's see what's in it!"

"Go ahead," he said, gesturing. "Though it might be empty."

I walked up to the chest, not forgetting to scan the room as I went for any danger that might emerge. But there was nothing here, just the chest itself. I reached down and lifted the lid. It was not empty. Inside was a blue rod, topped with a crystal sphere.

I picked it up, and it felt warm in my hand. "Interesting."

"What is it?"

I held it up for Link to look at. "Some kind of magic wand or something."

"Can you figure out what it does?"

I looked at it. It was completely plain, there was no switch or button. I swung it experimentally through the air, and jumped as it emitted a wave of energy that crossed the room and hit the far wall with a peculiar echoing sound. "Some kind of magic wand, I guess," I said.

"Do you want to keep it?"

I started to speak, then stopped. I didn't know what the energy from the wand did, but it was probably a weapon of some kind. One that Link wouldn't be about to counter. My hand tightened on the rod. Of course I wanted it! I could use it to kill him. I could do it right now, while he stood there, too far away to stop me. I started to lift my hand. Link's eyes went wide, and I could sense his sudden fear. No doubt he had sensed my sudden rage. I wanted so badly to kill him! I fought the urge, and my hand trembled, the wand shaking in my grip.

Link moved swiftly, dashing across the room while I still struggled with myself. He put his hand over mine, and with a sigh I let go of the wand and let him take it.

"I think you had better open the chests from now on," I said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think."

"Neither did I," I growled. Hatred still burned in me, and I was angry at myself for failing again as much as I was angry at Link for being so careless.

"Let's go," said Link, gesturing at a second door that led deeper into the temple.

Beyond the door was another unadorned room, and another double handful of stalfos. For a moment everything was chaos as Link and I darted among them. The animate skeletons were dangerous, but stupid, and between the two of us we soon had the room cleared.

The door beyond it was larger than any of the previous doors. It was rusty, and swung open with a squeal of protesting hinges. Beyond it lay a much larger chamber than the ones we'd fought our way though. It was dark, and we went through the door cautiously, side by side.

Something moved in the darkness.

Something big.

Link pulled out his bow and shot a fire arrow into the gloom. And by that flash of light we both clearly saw it. It was huge, a vast crab-like creature with a giant, staring eye. It gave a shriek of rage and charged, and the whole chamber seemed suddenly filled with gigantic, thrashing, chitinous legs. I dodged one and hacked at it with my sword, but the blade just bounced off. I caught a glimpse of Link, and the Master Sword seemed to be faring no better. I tried to strike at the body of the thing, but I could barely reach it, it was above my head, and my sword tip just grated across more armor there.

"Its eye!" said Link. I looked up and realized that the creature was attacking us blindly, with its single huge eye closed. That must be a point of vulnerability then. Given that it was twice as tall as I was, I had nothing that could reach the eye even were it open. But Link had sheathed his sword again and gotten out his bow and nocked an arrow, and I grinned. Of course. I dodged a flailing leg, trying to get some distance from it.

Then I heard Link cry out. I looked over at him, and ice suddenly poured through my veins. One of those huge, flailing limbs had caught him across the chest. It flung him across the room where he hit one wall with a sickening cracking sound and slid down to lie still, so very, horribly still.

Ice flashed to fire inside me. He was dead, and I had failed my purpose. He was dead, and I had failed my friend. Rage like I'd never known filled me, the world turning red around me.

With an inarticulate howl of anger I dove across the room and scooped up the bow and arrow that Link had dropped when the thing struck him. At the sound its huge eye snapped open, no doubt to see what sort of hideous, shrieking monster had entered the room, and I didn't hesitate, I fired. The arrow hit home, sinking into its eye to the quills.

It wailed in pain, though the sound was no louder in my ears than my own cry of rage, and fell. But its death wasn't enough for me, I screamed again and drew my sword, and began to hack at the massive carapace. I swung it over and over again, my hands soon numb from the impact of it against the rock hard chitin. And then with a sudden metallic snap, my sword shattered. I stopped and stared blankly at the stub in my head.

And in the sudden silence I heard a faint groan.

I dropped the hilt with a clang and scrambled across the room. Kneeling at Link's side I looked down. He was terribly battered, but his chest rose and fell ever so faintly. His breathing sounded labored, wrong somehow, but he was still alive! And that meant there was a chance. Frantically I scrabbled at his belt, my fingers still numbed, panic making me even more clumsy still. I got his item bag open and reached for a jar. I felt one under my fingers and pulled it out. Empty. I cursed and threw it aside. I felt a second and pulled that free. It glowed with pink light.

Thank the goddesses! A healing fairy. I fumbled at the cork, managed to pull it, and upended the jar over him.

The little pink glow fluttered down to him, touched, and vanished in a sparkle of soft light.

Immediately the sound of his breathing eased, strengthened.

I felt weak with relief. Link opened his eyes and looked up at me. He smiled. "Thanks." He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. He'd lost his hat somewhere.

I wrapped my arms around him and clung to him, shaking in reaction to what had just happened. I realized I was crying.

He put his own arms around me and stroked my hair. "It's all right Dark, shh, it's all right. I'm fine. I've had close calls like that before. It's all right."

"It's not all right. Don't ever do that to me again, Link. I thought you were dead."

I felt as much as heard him chuckle softly. "I thought you wanted me dead."

"I want to kill you myself," I snapped, aware as I said it that it was totally irrational. "Nobody else gets to, only me."

"Oh Dark," he said, and hugged me tighter. I buried my head against his shoulder, still shaking, and he continued to stroke my hair until finally I calmed.

At length I let go of him and straightened. "Are you all right?" asked Link.

"Yeah," I said, though on some level I knew I wasn't. Physically I was fine, but my reactions just then hadn't been exactly normal. Something was wrong with me, and it might go deeper somehow than just Ganondorf's darkness within me. I shook off that thought and got to my feet. Link rose as well, looking around. He went and picked up his bow, stowing it again in his bag. I regarded the useless hilt of my broken sword, muttered a curse, and kicked it across the room.

"You need a weapon," said Link. "You can't go on unarmed."

"Yeah." I considered that. Link carried quite a few, but could I use any of them? I knew how, of course. But the distance weapons were not safe in my hands, all it would take was one moment of inattention and I could shoot him in the back, and he wouldn't be able to block it. Of those weapons that remained all were either ineffectual in most circumstances or, like the hammer, something I couldn't be trusted with. I sighed.

Link looked thoughtful, no doubt going through the same chain of logic in his head. "Hmm. Well, I think there's only one thing I can give you," he said. I looked at him curiously, wondering what he'd thought of. My conclusion had been that there was nothing. What had I missed? Then to my surprise he drew the Master Sword and offered it to me, hilt first.

"What?"

"Here. I have plenty of other things I can use."

I reached out, then hesitated. This was the holy blade, the power of light that had felled Ganondorf. "Are you sure?" I asked nervously.

"I'm sure," he said.

Slowly I closed my hand over the hilt. When it didn't burn my fingers I grew a little bit more confident, and tightened my grip. The blade felt... good. Right. It was exactly the right weight and balance, which my broken sword hadn't been. I swung it experimentally through the air and smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, why don't we see what this thing was guarding?"

I sheathed the sword and followed as Link picked his way around the monster's carcass and into the room beyond. It was another plain chamber, with no other doors, and no further monsters either, only a single pedestal at the center. We both went to it, but it was empty. I brushed a layer of dust from it, and found that the flat stone top was engraved with the triforce symbol.

"Interesting," said Link.

"Yeah. Does that mean that the triforce rested here once?"

"Possibly. Or a piece of it. Or something else related to it, who knows? Whatever it was, it's gone now." Link regarded the back of his own hand for a moment, where the triforce mark showed that he bore one of the three pieces still. Then he shrugged. "Let's go back."


	11. Fair Play

The horses were still where we'd left them, along with the rest of our gear. But it was still storming outside and the bedrolls were still a little bit damp. I was all dried out now, especially after all the exertion of fighting, but I wasn't looking forward to sleeping in damp blankets.

Link stood by the door, looking out into the storm outside. He was silent. I came up and stood beside him. Thunder still boomed, and the floor of the canyon was completely filled by a torrent of muddy water.

"If this gets much worse, we might have to move deeper in, this chamber could flood," I said.

Link just nodded.

I turned away from the door and paced around the room for a while. There was nothing to do and I felt restless. Every time my pacing brought me near Link I had the urge to attack him, though I knew it would do me little good. He was keeping the damn hammer by his side now, instead of his sword, and I could remember all too clearly how things had gone the last time I'd faced him armed with that.

Finally I went to the far side the room, sat down against the wall, and pulled out my ocarina. I sighed and lifted the ocarina to my lips. Maybe I could find some sort of peace in the music. I played for a time, and perhaps it helped a little, but the fire of hate in me was still there.

Link came and sat next to me. He joined me, harmonizing with the melody, as I had harmonized with him when we first played together. His song provided what mine could not, and the tension slowly went out of me as the hatred seeped away.

After a long time I put down the ocarina. Link too stopped playing.

"Why does my music do nothing, while yours calms me?"

"I don't know."

"Is it because that's the Ocarina of Time?"

Link shrugged. "It could be. I supposed we could test it."

"By swapping, you mean? But you'd have to make me angry again."

"Well, I could probably manage that."

I let out a short, bitter bark of laughter. "Yeah, so far it hasn't been very hard."

"If you don't mind, I admit that now you have me curious." He held out his ocarina to me. I noticed that it had a very faint glow about it. I was curious as well, so I handed him mine, and took the smooth, slightly warm instrument from his hands.

"Okay," I said. "So... now what?"

"Now I have to upset you. And..." he suddenly grinned at me with a glint of mischief in his eyes, "I have an idea about how to do that." And before I realized what he was doing he'd pulled me close and kissed me. I froze, torn between the urge to shove him away and the urge to kiss back with everything I had. He pulled back before I could make up my mind, and frustrated rage instantly flashed to full life in me.

He gave a little breathless laugh, his cheeks brightly flushed. "Well, part one of the experiment seems to have worked."

I growled at him, wanting to punch the smile off his face, strangle the laughter in his throat.

"Calm down, Dark. We're trying to learn something here. Play a little."

I closed my eyes, shutting out the sight of him, and took several deep breaths. Right. I was supposed to be finding out if the thing that soothed my hatred lay in the ocarina itself, or not. I lifted it to my lips and blew. The first notes were less steady than usual, my anger was too great for me to express myself through music as easily as I had on those calmer occasions. As I went along my mood settled a bit, and I was able to play a coherent melody. But I still felt that hard knot of anger within me. The song did little for it.

Once again Link lifted his ocarina and joined me. We harmonized, and in moments I felt the knot loosening, the anger falling away. I played for a few minutes more, as peace took full hold of me, and then let the ocarina fall to my lap with a sigh.

"So it's not the instrument, it's the player. Interesting."

"I guess. What does it mean though?"

"I have no idea. It seems very strange that it should be me, I'm a warrior and not a mage. I have a little magic, but it's all been given to me, it's not something I understand. And none if it should have anything to do with you. Din's Fire, or Faore's Wind, things like that have nothing to do with this puzzle. And if it's not the ocarina itself... I have no idea. I know too little about magic to even venture a guess."

"And I don't know any more than you. Less, even. You only knew Din's fire when I met you. What's Faore's wind?"

"It's a spell that lets me travel from here to there... a bit like using the ocarina, but I can go anywhere I've been in the past. But only if I set the spell up first while I'm there. There's also Nayru's Love, which creates a protective barrier. I've never really felt comfortable using any of them though. I'm a fighter, not a mage. Using magical items is simple enough, but spells... spells I don't really like much."

"I think I like magic even less than you." Magic had made me, and given me all my problems.

Link nodded and leaned back against the wall, tipping his head back and staring up at the darkened ceiling of the room.

We sat in silence for a long time, and it was surprisingly comfortable. The storm outside eased, rain was still coming down, but the thunder slowly retreated into the distance and the wind slowed, until the rain was a gentle patter rather than a howling gale. I yawned, drowsing. I felt something against my side and looked over to see that Link had slipped sideways, and was now snoring with his head resting on my shoulder. I smiled. For the moment, at least, I was still free from hatred, and seeing him there was pleasant. He was my friend. He'd done so much for me. He was risking his life every moment he was with me, just to try and help me.

I turned my head and kissed his forehead, not quite sure why I'd done it, but wanting to do it all the same. He stirred and looked up at me. I found myself captivated by his gaze. There was something in his eyes that was like his music, something that calmed me. Strange how his gaze had often enraged me before, but didn't now. I didn't understand it. I didn't understand anything anymore. But for the moment, at least, confusion seemed easy to bear.

"It's late," he said softly. I looked out the door, to where the rain was still falling. It was dark, the sun had already set.

"Yeah."

"We should sleep."

"Yeah."

Neither of us moved.

"Or at lest check and see if the bedrolls have dried."

I sighed. "Yeah."

Link got up, and I picked myself up and followed him. The bedrolls unfortunately were still slightly damp. "Great," I muttered, feeling a little bit of hard-won peace leaving me.

"The blanket on the inside is dry, it's just the rest that are still wet on mine," said Link, looking at where his blankets were spread out on the floor.

"Same here."

"Well, I guess that's better than nothing."

"Feh. I guess. But I can either put a blanket over me and lie on cold stone, or I can put it under me and get chilled by every breeze."

"Such optimism."

"So you're just thrilled to sleep in the cold then?"

Link chuckled. "No, not exactly. Though there is a third option, you know."

"Oh?"

"Put your blanket on the ground, and my blanket on top, and we keep each other warm."

I blinked. My cheeks heated. "Uh..."

"Not that I'm suggesting kissing, mind. I still don't think that's a good way to warm up." He grinned.

I scowled. Somehow Link had turned my own means of discomfiting him against me. He was far too adaptable, in addition to everything else about him that annoyed and aggravated me.

"Calm down, Dark. I shouldn't poke fun at you, I'm sorry." He came over and put his hand on my shoulder. "I'll play again, if that will help. But I am serious about sharing our blankets. It's going to be a cold night."

"It... might help, yeah. And I guess you're right, it's already getting colder." Which was true. But I wondered. Was staying warm all that he wanted? Something else was warring with my anger. It wasn't exactly a comfortable feeling, my stomach felt tied in knots. But I remembered kissing him, and sitting together earlier, and the way he'd fallen asleep on my shoulder... I shook my head, trying to shake off confusion. Why did he have to drive me so mad? I shot a glare at him, and saw he was getting out his ocarina again.

It didn't take as long to soothe away my anger and hate this time, but when I was calm again I still felt a weight of sorrow. It seemed as though the longer we were together, the worse the chaos within me grew. I had no idea what feelings were truly my own and what belongs to Ganondorf's darkness any more, I felt horribly confused.

Link put away the ocarina and spread the blankets on the floor. I removed my boots, sword, and shield, taking extra care to set the Master Sword down gently. I still felt very odd about bearing it. Link laid down and beckoned to me. "Here. You lie in front of me, where I can keep an eye on you, and that way I'm sure we'll both sleep more peacefully."

I felt a tiny flash of irritation at that, but managed to smother it. He was right, that was the best way to do things, for both our sakes. So I curled up next to him, my back to his chest. He spread the second blanket over us both. There wasn't much room, and when we'd both gotten ourselves comfortable beneath it I found he had one arm over me, holding me against him. It ought to have bothered me, I thought. But somehow it didn't. I sighed softly, relaxing. The chill that had seeped into me from sitting against the cold stone walls was warmed by his body against mine, and I found myself drifting off to sleep.

As dreams claimed me I thought I heard a snatch of song, but I didn't know if Link was humming softly or if it was just something from my own mind. But either way I once again slept soundly, with no nightmares to haunt me.


	12. Cryptic Message

We were three days out from the temple where we'd stopped during the storm when we finally reached a town. The ride had been less pleasant in some ways than our ride across Hyrule, for it was cold and windy, with occasional brief showers of rain, the whole way. Summer, it seemed, was giving way to autumn, and the good days might be precious and few from here on. Though I for one would rather ride through snow, sleet, or hail than have to cross Hyrule Field's horrible openness again.

The town was a fairly large one, easily as big as Hyrule Castle Town, probably bigger. It bustled with life and activity, and Link and I both stared like bumpkins at the many people that thronged the streets.

"Well, now what?" I asked.

"Find somebody to ask... I don't know. About magic, I guess. Where to find a wizard or a sage or somebody who might know about your problem."

"Who do we ask?"

"Whoever we find," said Link. He looked around, and saw a portly man who didn't seem particularly busy standing in front of a shop. He kneed Epona over in that direction and called out, "Excuse me sir!"

"What is it?" The man looked up, a surly expression on his face.

"We're seeking for information about magic. Do you..."

"You?" the man broke in rudely, "are asking me about magic? Is this some kind of joke?"

Link looked taken aback. "No, sir, I assure you..."

"Look elf boy, I don't take getting mocked from anyone, least of all a freak like you. Get lost!" And he spun around and stomped into his shop, shutting the door behind him with a loud slam.

Link stared after him, jaw open in shock. "What did I just get called?"

"'Elf boy,'" I replied bemusedly. "Whatever that means."

"Don't mind him, he's a sour one to his own kind as well as to yours," broke in another voice. I looked down to see a middle aged man, dressed in dark, practical clothing, grinning up at us. "You two are from Hyrule, aren't you?" he said.

"Yes," I ventured, feeling confused.

"Well, there aren't a lot of your folk around here. Most of 'em stay in Hyrule, you know. You've only just come from there, haven't you?"

Link and I both nodded, and the man smiled and continued, "Now Jake there thought you must be having a go at him, seeing as how you're magical, pointy-eared, Hylian Elves, and he's just a plain old human, he don't know nothing at all about magic." He fingered one of his ears as he said that, and with a bit of a shock I saw that it was short and round, as if it the tip had been cropped off for some inexplicable reason. But glancing around at the others passing by I quickly realized that they all had short ears like that. And on the heels of that realization came another the long pointed ears Link and I had stuck out like, well... like long, pointed ears. They were extremely obvious. "I expect your question is sincere," continued the man, "else you wouldn't have been so surprised when he flipped his lid. But you should know that magic's a rare thing around here. I'm sure you two have more magic in you than the whole town put together."

"But we're not mages," I protested, "we're warriors."

"So you can't cast any spells at all? Not even one? And no magical weapons or suchlike?" said the man with a sly grin.

"Uh... well... I can only cast the one. And, uh..." I looked over my shoulder at the hilt of the Master Sword. "I guess you have a point. But what is an 'elf'?"

That got me a brief look of blank incomprehension. "Why... you are, of course. You and your quiet friend there." He gestured at Link.

"Oh."

"You don't call yourselves elves?"

I shook my head. "No. We call ourselves Hylians."

"Well out here folks what look like you two get called elves."

"I see." I had a sinking suspicion that this was going to be the first of many unforeseeable surprises. We weren't in Hyrule anymore and apparently things were very different out here. "But... about our question..."

"I don't know nothing at all about magic, boy."

"I know. But is there anyone in town who might? Some sage or wise woman or wizard?"

"Well... there is a wise woman, old Matilda who owns the potion shop."

"Do you think she might know anything about how to break a spell?"

"I don't rightly know. But if anyone in town does, she will. And she knows some folks from abroad too, she might be able to point you at somebody."

I felt a touch of relief. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, boy. Just follow this road past the fountain, then turn left. The shop will be on your right, can't miss it."

"Thanks again."

He waved as we nudged our horses forward. It was surreal, riding down the seemingly ordinary street and seeing all these seemingly ordinary people, who were an entirely different race from us, possibly as alien as Zoras or Gorons.

We dismounted at the potion shop. Inside, shelves stacked with relatively familiar contents greeted us, and I'll confess I felt a bit of relief to see them. Especially the familiar bright red healing potion. We had only one fairy left, and that needed to be saved for emergencies, but healing potions were nearly as good and it looked like they'd be readily available, even in this less magical land we found ourselves in.

Dusting the shelves was an elderly woman. She was wrapped in a hooded cloak, even here inside, so I could barely make out her features, but her stooped form made her age clear. She looked up at us as we entered and set her duster aside. I had no idea if she was surprised to see us or not, since her expression was in shadow. Her voice gave no clues. It held a quaver of age but was otherwise even and calm. "Greetings, welcome to my shop."

"Are you, uh," I fished through my memory for the name, "Matilda?"

"That I am, child. What can I do for you two fine young Hylians?"

"We have a question about magic, ma'am." Something about her inspired the honorific.

She peered up at me. "And why would you folks, who no doubt have more magic in your hair than I've got in my whole body, be asking old Matilda about magic, hmm?"

I sighed. This again? "Ma'am... we're not mages. We're just fighters. This is beyond us. We need to know how to break a spell."

"I see. Well, breaking as spell is sometimes easier said than done, but mayhap I can aid you. Tell me about it."

"I, uh..." How on earth was I going to explain this? I got the feeling that telling her I was Link's evil twin wasn't going to get us off to a good start.

"We need to break part of the spell, ma'am, while leaving the rest of it intact. That is our difficulty." Link broke in, relieving me of my dilemma.

"Ah. That's beyond me, child. I can't help you, I'm sorry. I do simple magics, that kind of thing is for great wizards and sages, not for an old wise woman like me." She turned away from me and picked up her duster again.

My face fell. We'd hit a dead end.

"I'm sorry Dark," said Link, putting a hand on my arm.

"Wait." The old woman turned back around. "Your name is Dark?"

I blinked in surprise. "Yes?"

"That old goat," she muttered with a laugh. "Mayhap I can help you after all, child. I have a message for you."

"You... you do?"

"Aye. A sage I know, last time I saw him he told me I needed to tell dark something when I met him. Sages, they like to be cryptic, and I thought he was being worse than usual, I do confess. I never thought I'd simply meet a fellow who went by the name! But this is what he said. 'Tell dark, when you meet him, that his light's song is the key to his heart's desire.' That's your message. Tell you anything?"

I looked at Link. "Maybe," I ventured.

"He said 'his light's song', not 'the light's song,' or 'a light's song'?" asked Link intently.

"That's what he said, 'his light's song.'"

Link nodded. "That's me, then. You're my shadow, Dark. It follows that I'm your light."

I nodded. It made sense. "But we already knew that your song frees me. This doesn't tell us anything new."

Link grinned. "Yes it does. It tells us first that the music angle is the right track to pursue. And it tells us second that there's somebody who may well be able to tell us more."

Matilda cackled. "You're a smart one, child. Yes. The sage in question is named Bertram. He lives in Questra, which isn't too near here, it'll be a bit of a trip, but the trade road leads there. Follow it east and you'll get there eventually."

"Thank you very much!" said Link. He turned to go, then stopped. "Oh, before we leave, I think we had better stock up on potions. If it's going to be a long journey, we ought to be prepared."

We left the shop with all our spare jars filled, though also with our wallets considerably lighter.

"How much do we have left?" I asked.

Link frowned. "Not as much as I'd like. It's getting colder, and I'd wanted to get some cold weather gear. Hopefully we'll at least have enough for some warmer bedrolls." He looked over at me, and his cheeks reddened. "I haven't minded sharing, exactly, but all the same... We should at lest see if we can find something waterproof to carry them in."

I coughed and blushed. With the frequent drizzles we hadn't had properly dry bedding for the last several nights, so we'd been forced to repeat our arrangement from our night at the unknown temple. I hadn't really minded either, but it was a little bit awkward. Especially as I'd woken Link up with my nightmares two out of the three nights we'd spent thus.

We scouted the whole marketplace, and eventually with some careful budgeting we were able to get waterproof bags and some warmer gear, including coats for both of us. But that took nearly all our funds, there wasn't a coin left to pay for a room once we'd gotten some food and fodder for the horses. So we didn't linger, but set out immediately along the trade road towards Questra.

That night when we made camp I was able to sleep in my own bedroll, warm and comfortable. But though I wasn't sure I wanted to admit it, I felt a little bit lonely. Even though Link was only a few feet away, I missed sleeping by his side. And my sleep was troubled with nightmares once again, so that when morning came I rose before the dawn, feeling nearly as tired as I had before I'd laid down.

I sat and watched the sun rise. Link was sleeping with his hammer by his hand, and I had to fight back another fiery flash of anger when I looked at him. I wanted to jump on him and strangle him with my bare hands.

But I was getting better at fighting those feelings. I managed to calm myself to the point where I was only a little irritated with him. Still the mental effort left me feeling even more exhausted, and that combined with my irritation left me morose and impatient.

Thankfully Link woke before my impatience made me do something we'd both regret, and we broke camp fairly efficiently and headed out. I muttered curses at Link, the horses, our meager breakfast, the still-chilly weather, and everything else I could think of to curse as we went on our way.

"So how far do we have to go anyhow?" I asked around midday.

"I'm told it's about a month's travel by horse," said Link

"What? A whole month? But... you could cross the whole of Hyrule and back again in that time. On foot. Twice."

Link chuckled, and I had to grit my teeth as the urge to throttle him rose again. "I get the impression that Hyrule is a very small and insignificant kingdom, by the standards of those outside it. Perhaps that is part of why it has so little to do with the rest of the world."

I thought about that, as something to think about other than killing Link. "Ganondorf sure wanted to conquer it pretty badly, for somewhere so insignificant." I finally said.

"Ganondorf wanted the Triforce. Which as far as I know has never been taken outside of Hyrule... until now, that is." He looked down at his hand and the mark there. In some metaphysical way he was carrying the Triforce of Courage. And we were well outside the borders of Hyrule by now.

"Does that mean anything?"

He shrugged. "I doubt it. But I suppose if it does we'll find out."

I brooded on that for a while as we rode. What if we somehow ruined things in Hyrule by leaving it? The Hero of Time, the Triforce of Courage, and the Master Sword were all gone. What if they were needed while we were away? And should I care if they were? I glanced over my shoulder again at the hilt of the Master Sword. Things seemed to be getting stranger and stranger the further we went along. I had thought it was a little crazy when Link had willingly sparred with me. I had thought it was insanity when he'd bought me a horse, and utter madness when he'd said he would make helping me his quest. I didn't even know how to categorize the level of lunacy required to give me the Master Sword.

And most of that had happened just over the last week or so. With a month on the road together, what else might happen? I wasn't sure I wanted to even think about it.


	13. Cold Road

We had a few fine, clear days near the beginning of our journey to Questra. The trip became fairly pleasant during those times, especially as Link frequently got out his ocarina and played as we rode along at an easy pace. I was able, during those peaceful hours, to begin to picture what life might be like if our quest succeeded. But those days didn't last, autumn was closing in, and the road we traveled climbed steadily towards a distant mountain range, so the temperature fell as we continued our journey. Rain often drenched us, and we had been unable to afford a tent, so we had to find what shelter we could along the way. Most nights we found something, but there were a few where we simply plodded miserably along all night, for there was no shelter to be had, and trying to camp in the open during a storm was pointless.

Our course led us mostly among thick forest, so such nights were the exception rather than the rule, though I often wished for better shelter than an overhanging pine tree. But one afternoon as we followed the road along a high, rocky ridge with no sign of trees for miles, damp white flakes began sifting down on us.

I threw back my head and started shouting curses at the sky. But that only let the flakes land on my face, and I quickly lowered it and put up the hood of my coat. I still muttered imprecations against the snow as I huddled on Dust's back. This was not fair at all! It wasn't winter yet! It was still early autumn! Snow shouldn't be falling yet!

"We need to find a better camp site tonight," said Link, sounding worried.

"We need to do more than that. Link... even without the snow falling on us directly, if it stays below freezing all night we may freeze ourselves. Our blankets aren't enough. We need actual shelter, at least a tent of some kind, something that can keep the heat in."

"You may be right." Link's brow furrowed. "But there's nowhere to buy such a thing, and I have no money left in any case."

"There has to be something we can do. I mean, we can put our bedding together again tonight, that will probably be enough. But with this cold coming on so fast, I'm not sure that will suffice for the rest of the journey. We're barely more than half way there."

Link nodded. His brow was furrowed in thought, and I remained quiet, letting him think. I was worried enough that biting back my by now habitual irritated cursing was easier than usual.

"Of course!" he suddenly said. "I can get everything I need back at Hyrule castle, I won't even need to pay, I don't think. They owe me a few."

"But how will..." I stopped, the answer to the question coming to me before I finished asking. "The Ocarina there, and Faore's Wind back?"

"Yes. Though I've never used it over such a distance. But it should work. Although if it doesn't..." He pondered that. "I'll be leaving you alone in the cold, and I'll be on foot again in Hyrule. I'll be weeks and weeks catching up with you again."

"And meanwhile I'll have frozen solid. This is another reason why I hate magic, you can't trust it."

"But if it's too far for Faore's Wind to carry me back, it will probably be too far for the ocarina to carry me out in the first place," said Link. "And as you said, tonight will probably not be all that bad, it's the nights to come we really need to worry about. You'll have two horses, you can ride pretty fast if you push them. If I don't turn up in a couple of hours, turn around, ride as hard as you can back to that last village we passed a couple of days ago. They should be able to shelter you there."

I muttered another curse under my breath, but nodded. It was as good a plan as any.

"All right. Here goes then." Link dismounted. I swung down as well and took Epona's reins. He stepped a few paces away and, with a few brisk gestures, performed the spell. I watched with interest as a green whirlwind formed around him, then dissipated. He nodded in approval, apparently it had worked. He pulled out his ocarina and lifted it to his lips. I heard the familiar tune of the Prelude of Light, and then with a swirl of golden sparks he was gone.

I waited, leaning against my horse. The snow continued to sift down. The flakes were small and damp, it was barely below freezing, but their wetness almost made it wore, for they melted and soaked in immediately, rather than staying on my clothing to be brushed off. Soon I was shivering and stamping my feet. I led the horses around in circles just to keep us all warm.

Inside me a slow panic was beginning. What if he had left me on purpose? What if he had decided to give up the quest and just go back to Hyrule? I'd never learned Faore's Wind myself, only Din's Fire. I had nothing but his word about how it worked. And my ocarina was the fairy ocarina, not the ocarina of time. It was a little magical, but I actually didn't know if I could use it to warp at all. I had no memories of Link doing so.

Hatred flared brightly, thinking that he might have betrayed me, might be trying to escape me rather than aid me. And twisted with it was fear. Link was my friend. If he had left me, that meant he didn't want my friendship. The darkness within me raged against him, the light trembled in terror. What would I do if he didn't come back? I tried to reach for that sense of him, the bond I had followed when I first chased him across Hyrule Field, but I couldn't sense anything. He must be too far away. Or he had gone somewhere I couldn't reach, like he had when Zelda first tried to send him home. What if he were going back to tell Zelda about me and have her find a way to send him back in time after all, where I could never follow?

It had been at least an hour. He had said to wait for two. But what if it took longer than that and I left? If he came back and found me gone, wouldn't he assume that it was I who'd abandoned him? But no, surely he had abandoned me. Back in Hyrule, safe and warm, why would he want to come back to this cold hell just for me?

I jogged a little faster, the horses trotting after me. The snow was starting to stick on the ground, and we left a circular track in it, going around and around the place where Link had stood before he vanished.

Suddenly a flare of green light interrupted my panic. In an instant Link stood there again, a bulky bundle clutched in his arms.

"Link! You came back!" Every inch of me was relieved, even the part that hated him, for his return meant he hadn't escaped my vengeance after all.

"Of course I did," he said, looking faintly puzzled. I immediately regretted my outburst, my worries had obviously been foolish. "Come on, let's get off the road and at least find some kind of nook to pitch the tent in." I nodded and followed him silently. My emotions were confused and chaotic. I was irritated at myself for getting all worked up over nothing, and paradoxically I was irritated at Link for causing it, even though it was hardly his fault. At the same time I was incredibly relieved that he had returned. I wanted to never let him out of my sight again.

There were no convenient caves or handy temple entrances to be found, so we made do with a natural alcove where three enormous boulders provided shelter from the wind. We had to clear a few inches of snow before beginning, but the tent itself was thick-walled and small enough that our bodies began to heat it almost as soon as we crawled inside. I was still chilled to the bone though, and I wrapped myself up in my bedroll as well and huddled in a ball, with the blankets pulled over my face to keep every bit of warmth inside.

I let out a squawk of alarm when I felt the edge of the blankets pulled up. Cold air came in, but then a warm presence pressed against me. "Let me help you get warm," Link said. "You must be near frozen after having waited for me." I turned to him and wrapped my arms around him, pressing close. I still felt the aftermath of my earlier panic, and I clung to him as if I could keep him there with me forever. He put his arms around me as well, and held me. I felt suddenly as if I might cry. I tried to fight it. Why was I such an emotional wreck? Surely a simple spell to make me hate couldn't explain the mess I was in? Something must be wrong with me, even without the spell. "It's all right," said Link softly. I hated and resented his useless words and at the same time I was comforted by them, by his care and closeness. I trembled, feeling like I might go to pieces entirely, just fly apart in a dozen different directions.

"Dark? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything. Just me, that's all. I'm coming to pieces. I'm a failure at everything." I knew he could hear the tears in my voice, and hated myself for it.

"Oh Dark. It's all right. You're not a failure. You just have a terrible burden to bear."

I couldn't come up with any answer to that, I just started crying in earnest, tears running down my cheeks. Link held me tighter, and started to stroke my hair. "You're not a failure," he repeated softly.

I wanted to cry against his shoulder. I wanted to lash out, to hit him and hurt him. I wanted to scream at him. I shuddered again, fighting against what seemed to be a hundred different impulses.

Then Link ran his fingers through my hair, pulled me close, and kissed me.

Everything froze for an instant. All the other urges I felt were transformed by this one act, and while turmoil still churned in me I couldn't do anything but kiss him back with everything that was in me. He had kissed me gently, but I couldn't find any gentleness to return to him, I kissed back with a furious passion, hot and intense. It was an outlet for all I felt, and he returned it with matching passion, if not matching fury. We pressed together for a small eternity, our lips locked, our tongues twisting together, our arms around each other, bodies pressed close.

Link was the one who pulled back first. He was panting hard, practically gasping for breath. My own breath was coming fast and my heart was racing. Link was trembling now too, some strong emotion working on him. I still felt as though I were in the midst of a whirlwind, wanting I don't even know what. How could I know? I had no experience at this, no more than he did. But something in me wanted to love him and hurt him all at once, and when he continued to hold me close I pressed my face against his shoulder and kissed him, at the spot where neck and shoulder joined. Then I bit him there, an atavistic shudder going through me as my teeth touched his flesh. I didn't know, even as I did it, whether I was truly trying to harm him or whether this was just another expression of the passion that gripped me. He let out a soft, shocked cry. But the sound was not entirely a sound of pain, and as I bit again he moaned and held me closer. I was startled to realize I was growling, a low sound deep in my throat, as I bit in.

"Ah, Dark!" Link let out another cry, this one more pained, and I tasted blood. It sent an incredible thrill through me. Link's blood in my mouth seemed like the most wonderful thing I had ever tasted. I bit in harder, wanting more.

He shuddered, and though there was still passion in it, mostly I heard pain from him now. "Dark... goddesses... please stop! Ahh!" I wanted to bite harder still, I wanted to just hurt him, take out rage and passion together on his flesh, but somehow, somehow, his words reached the part of me that didn't hate him. It rose up and fought against the part that did, and after a long, terrible moment when he cried out in pain again, I let go and pulled back.

He was panting, taking deep, shuddering breaths. I'd hurt him, really hurt him. I tried to push away from him, to climb out from the blankets and flee, but he held me tightly and wouldn't let me go.

"I'm so sorry!" I started to cry again, feeling even worse than I had before.

Link took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. His arms were still tight around me and his voice was amazingly calm as he said, "It's all right Dark. Shh. Be still. It's all right."

"It's not all right, I hurt you."

"I'm fine. I've been hurt much worse than this before, you know that. It's all right." I stopped fighting to escape, and he once more began to stroke my hair. "There, it's fine, you'll be fine. And I'm not hurt. I'm the one who started it anyhow, so if anyone should be sorry it's me. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I..."

"No, don't argue with me. It's all right. I was enjoying myself, mostly. I just forgot that you have fangs." His voice was still calm, amused even. It calmed some of my frantic, almost panicked fear at having harmed him. Though it also, at the same time, sparked another flash of anger. He was laughing at me!

Link started humming, repeating a soft, familiar, melodic phrase over and over. It was one I'd heard him weave into his playing many times, especially recently. I started to relax a little. Somehow, even without the ocarina, it was soothing. Not quite as soothing as the magical instrument, perhaps, but enough to calm me, to let me release some of the anger and confusion that had trapped me. "There, that's better."

I sighed. I didn't feel entirely calm, but I was at least a little bit more rational than I had been a moment ago. Though tears still trickled from my eyes. "I'm sorry," I said again.

"Don't be sorry."

"Why shouldn't I be? I hurt you!"

"Barely." Link lifted his hand and fingered the spot where I'd bitten him. "I could take the tiniest possible sip of healing potion and it would be gone. And this was my fault. I'm the one that kissed you."

"Yes, but a normal person would have just kissed you back, not assaulted you."

Link chuckled again. "How do we know what normal people do? Neither of us has the least clue what constitutes normal when it comes to kissing. Unless you're hiding some secret store of kissing lore?" He raised his eyebrows inquisitively at me, and I couldn't help but smile.

"You know I'm not. If anything I know less than you."

"That would hardly be possible," said Link wryly. "But what I'm getting at here is there's no need to upset yourself. I liked it, actually. Just maybe not quite that, uh, violent next time."

I blinked at him. "N-next time?"

"Yes, next time. This makes four times we've kissed, if I'm counting correctly, and I think that establishes a bit of a pattern."

I scowled. "I only kissed you because I knew it would put you off balance."

"And is that why you kissed me back like that just now?"

"I... no." I looked away from him, feeling embarrassed and uncertain. "I don't really know why... I don't know what I feel. Too many different things. Too much confusion."

Link sighed softly. "I'm not entirely sure of what I feel myself, to tell you the truth."

"But if there's going to be a next time, I'm going to end up hurting you again," I said, feeling my irritation grow as I argued with him. It twisted with fear, that I might somehow do him serious damage, and that he would give me the chance to do so because of how he felt. And that in turn twisted with eagerness. I could take advantage of this...

"Calm yourself, Dark. Should I go get the ocarina?"

With an effort I wrenched myself away from that train of thought. "Maybe, I don't know. Even when you play it I'm still such a confused mess."

"It doesn't require dark magic to make someone confused about his feelings, believe me."


	14. Sweet Dreams

"Someday I'm going to be warm again."

It hadn't snowed again since that first night, but it had remained cold and miserable, and we often woke to find everything covered in ice and frost. Even with the tent we still shared our blankets just to keep warm most nights. Link had refrained from kissing me again, and I'd managed to do the same. Despite his assurances, I didn't want to hurt him again. Although some nights it was all I could do to stay turned away from him. The part of me that wanted to hurt him yearned for the chance to catch him distracted, perhaps even to succeed in killing him. And some other part of me just wanted him, without any thought for consequences. Many of my nights were sleepless, between fighting against both those impulses and the nightmares that still plagued me.

And Link too was often disturbed, for much as I tried to prevent it I couldn't keep from crying out in my sleep sometimes.

So we were both increasingly weary as we neared Questra. I sometimes found myself dozing in the saddle, I was so tired.

"Just a few more days till we get there," said Link.

"Thank the Three."

"Are you doing all right?"

"Just tired. I wish..." I sighed. I'd had a few nights without nightmares, but even those were often restless. I wished our quest were over and I could know peace. But even if we succeeded, which most days I doubted we would, I wasn't sure if I'd ever have the sort of calm that Link had.

"Wish you could get a good night's sleep?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you wish the same. I'm sorry I keep waking you up."

"Don't worry about it. You can't help having nightmares."

"Normal people don't."

Link gave me an amused look. I glared back. "Dark... normal people quite definitely have nightmares. I've had a few, from time to time."

"But normal people don't have them every single night."

"You don't have them every night."

"Well, almost every night."

"You've had a different life than most people," said Link quietly. "It's not surprising that you should have nightmares."

"They're not about anything that's actually happened though. Not most of them anyway." I had had a few dreams in which I'd succeeded in killing Link, and I wasn't sure where the ones where I sobbed over his body or the ones where I laughed and rejoiced were worse. There was also a frequent, recurring dream in which Link was the one who killed me. That one terrified me more than anything else. But mostly the nightmares contained images I'd never seen, people and places I didn't know. They seemed to belong to someone else entirely.

"What are they about then?"

"I don't know. There's nothing in them I've ever seen in waking life, except you, sometimes."

"That's odd."

"Is it?"

"Yes. Dreams are usually about people and places that you know. Not always, but usually. Can you tell me anything about the dreams?"

"There are monsters in them, but in the dream the monsters aren't the part that scares me, it's only afterward that I'm frightened of them. And sometimes I dream of being a child. But not you, not your childhood in the forest, I'm somebody else. I live somewhere dry and hot, and there are women there, strange women. And... I do dream about you sometimes. I dream about..." I hesitated. "About killing you. Except most of the time, in the dreams, you kill me instead."

Link's eyes went wide. "Wait... the women in your dreams, are they dark skinned, and red haired? Do they dress in bright colors? And two of them are old, and wear black?"

I gaped at him. "Yes..."

"I should have known! Dark, you're not dreaming your own dreams, or at least not most of the time. You're dreaming Ganondorf's dreams."

"But he's dead..."

"Most people assume that, and I haven't corrected them, but no. He's not dead. He's sealed. I didn't actually kill him. I defeated him, yes, but he still lives, sealed away in the spiritual realm that he corrupted."

"What does this mean?"

"I used to dream of fire, and him... I saw him in my dreams as a child. There's a... a connection between us. Because of our fates, I suppose. And you were made by him, from me. It's not surprising that you also share a connection with him."

I nodded. It did makes sense. But... "That means I'll always have nightmares."

"There have already been some nights when you didn't," Link reminded me.

"Yes." I thought about those few occasions. I thought about the connection between myself and my evil creator. And then I thought about the darkness that he had placed in me, darkness that could be temporarily countered. And the nights when I had slept soundly... having fallen asleep listening to Link play. "Your music," I said. "I hadn't put two and two together until now, but the night's I've slept without dreams have always been nights when you played for me."

"Then tonight I'll play you to sleep," he said with a smile.

The part of me that hated him resented his offer. I didn't need his condescending help. But I choked it back. I needed sleep, and so did he. There was nothing wrong with letting him provide us both with a good night's rest.

We pitched out tent a little earlier than usual that night. We'd been riding late, trying to reach Questra as quickly as possible, but we were both weary. Link was doing better than I, though. It was all I could do to stay on my horse of late, and I wasn't much help setting up the tent.

I crawled wearily inside it, and was already half asleep by the time Link joined me. He pulled out his ocarina and immediately began to play.

I sighed blissfully. The peace that slipped over me was wonderful. In only seconds I was soundly asleep.

I woke in Link's arms. Morning light shone faintly through the fabric of the tent. It seemed we might get a clear day, though sometimes those could be colder than the cloudy ones. Still, here in the tent the light was warm. So were Link's arms around me.

"Good morning," he said softly. "Sleep well?"

"Yes. Thank you."

That day was bitterly cold, and the sunlight seemed almost hard. Frost crunched underfoot as we traveled, and I found myself once more huddled, shivering, in my coat. But all the same I felt better than I had the day before. I was still tired, one night of unbroken sleep wasn't enough, but still... Even my usual anger seemed blunted, I only thought about killing Link once or twice.

We made an early camp again, and I was more help this time. When the horses were seen to and the tent was pitched we both climbed inside. As usual we piled our bedrolls together. I climbed in immediately, but Link once more pulled out his ocarina.

I closed my eyes and listened to the music. I could hear that familiar phrase, that Link has been playing so often lately, weaving in and out of the song. Sometimes he played it unaltered, sometimes he varied it, endlessly elaborating on it, and yet always returning to the same few notes.

When he fell silent I opened my eyes and looked up at him. "What song is that?"

"It's your song." He rubbed his hands together, even in the tent it was cold and playing had no doubt chilled them.

I lifted the blankets I was under in invitation and he climbed in with me. "My song?" I asked when he was tucked in by my side.

"Yes. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to call it Dark's Song or the Song of Sorrow... but it's the song that makes me think of you, and it seems to work best to chase out the darkness you suffer from."

Something in me was touched by that. I felt a strange upwelling of emotion. Not hate or anger this time, but something else, something I didn't have a word for. "Thank you," I said. The words were inadequate, they didn't convey the thing nameless emotion that warmed me, and so I also leaned forward and kissed him, gently this time.

He kissed back, and put his arms around me. I closed my eyes and tucked my head against his shoulder. He stroked my hair, running his fingers through it. I felt good, peaceful and warm and content here with him. Before I knew it I had fallen asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Questra was even larger than the trade town we'd first encountered had been. It was thronged with people, and I even a saw a few other races; a handful of Gorons going singly about their business, a cluster of Deku scurrying along together, a solitary Zora striding proudly among the crowd, and even a few Hylians, so at least Link and I didn't stand out quite so badly here.

We asked after Bertram the Sage in several places before getting directions to a shrine at the edge of town. It was peaceful there, though once again the day was dark and the clouds overhead threatened either icy rain or snow. The shrine was a small building, old but well tended, with neatly arranged gardens that, even in winter, were pleasing to the eye.

There was a hitching post by the road outside where we left our horses. At the end of the garden path the door stood open, so we went inside. The main chamber was small. It was very clean, with a well-swept floor and plain white walls. A modest altar against the far wall held three small statues of the goddesses, and a handful of incense sticks that gave a sweet, smoky fragrance to the air.

Kneeling facing the altar was an old man. He was short and quite bald, dressed in orange robes and wearing sandals. He got to his feet as we entered. "Greetings. What brings you here to my little shrine?"

Link didn't respond, so I answered. "We're looking for Bertram the Sage. Are you him?"

"I am."

"You sent me a message. I came to find out what else you know."

"A message, you say?"

"Yes. I'm Dark."

The old man peered at me curiously. "Interesting. I hadn't expected a Hylian."

"But you know about my... my curse? About Link and I, and the darkness, and his song?"

He shook his head. "No. I see what I see, my young friend, but I see little else. I saw a dark figure, and a light, and heard a song, and knew the words that needed to be sent, to bring you here. But beyond that I know nothing. So you will have to tell me your tale."

Link and I exchanged glances. I didn't want to tell this stranger about my problems. But if he could solve them... "I'll tell him," said Link softly.

"Thanks," I said shortly. Somehow just his offering irritated me, even though it was exactly what I had hoped he would do. I wondered if my hatred was getting worse, or if it was only my fatigue from the long journey that made me so easily angered.

The sage insisted that we sit down and have tea with him, and Link agreed readily, though I chafed at the delay. I wanted to get this over with already.

When he had poured the tea and we were all three sitting and taking our first sips, the sage said, "So. Tell me about light, and dark, and the song."

"It started when I was fighting an evil mage named Ganondorf. He set a spell which made my shadow come to life and attack me. I defeated the shadow, but... he wasn't just a shadow, when I hit him he bled. I knew he was me, somehow, or very like me, and I didn't want to leave him to die, so I healed him."

"And you are he, then." The sage looked at me. I nodded, keeping a tight hold on the irritation that threatened to blaze into fury. Saving me had been stupid, Link should have just left me to die.

"Yes," said Link. "We met again not long after, and have become friends of a sort but our... friendship is hindered by the fact that the compulsion Ganondorf laid on Dark remains. He keeps trying to kill me."

"A compulsion, you say? Then he is forced against his will to do you violence?"

Link looked at me. I looked away. He'd volunteered to tell this story, he could tell it. "Not exactly against his will. At the time he acts it's what he wants to do. He hates me, most of the time. Or at least is very angry with me. But the hatred comes from the spell, not from his own wishes."

The sage looked between us again, and I'm sure he noticed my sour expression. "Interesting. And the song?"

"That's why he only hates me most of the time, and not all of the time. There's a song I can play that removes his hatred, but the effect doesn't last, it fades. Quicker if I do something to annoy him, but even when I don't it always wears off eventually."

"Very interesting. You have a magical instrument, then?"

Link pulled out his ocarina. "Yes."

The sage peered at it. "Hmm. A very powerful item. Though not the greatest of those you two carry." He shot me a glance, and I knew he must mean the Master Sword. "I am not surprised it would have an effect."

"It's not just the ocarina though, we tried switching instruments, and it still worked. It's even worked when I just hum. So there's something about me in particular."

"Curious. Can you cast other spells merely by humming?"

Link blinked. "I don't know, I never tried."

"I would be very interested to see if you could," said the sage. "Perhaps you could make an attempt?"

Link frowned, no doubt mentally shuffling through the songs he knew. Time wasn't to be played with lightly, and neither was the sun, those spells were for only when needed. Summoning a storm we might then have to travel through was the last thing he wanted, and of course traveling back to Hyrule wasn't a good idea either. And Zelda's Lullaby only worked in very specific circumstances, there was nothing here for it to affect. That left Epona's Song or Saria's Song. "All right," said Link. "I guess I can try one." He closed his eyes and hummed, and I heard Saria's Song. Since that let him speak silently with her, I couldn't tell if it was working, but after a moment he opened his eyes and shook his head. "No, nothing."

"Yes, I sensed no magic then. You did not cast a spell, you merely hummed a few notes. Are you sure your humming has cast this spell of yours?"

"Fairly sure," said Link. "I could try that one now?"

"Yes, please do."

Link closed his eyes and hummed again, and this time I heard my own song. Immediately the anger I'd once more begun to feel drained away from me. I sighed, as always it was a relief to be free of it.

"Fascinating. It's small and focused but actually quite powerful. I've never know anyone who could cast a spell just by humming it. Very interesting."

"But I can't walk around humming all the time. We want to find a way to permanently free Dark from his hatred. But simply breaking the spell that caused it might kill him, since it's the spell that made him in the first place."

"I see your problem. Yes. Very interesting. Sadly I cannot break this spell for you."

Link's face fell. My own expression no doubt was equally disappointed. "You can't?" I ventured.

"No. But I didn't say it couldn't be broken. I am fairly certain there is one who can break it."

"Who?" I asked eagerly.

The old man looked at me soberly. "I can't tell you."

"What?" I felt a flare of anger, and for once it was directed at somebody other than Link. "Why not?"

"Because the fates have decreed it otherwise," said the old man.

I got to my feet, dropping the teacup. "So what, some kind of destiny demands that I go through life with this curse? Is that it?"

"You misunderstand. Destiny does not demand you stay cursed, but destiny has sent you here with a dual purpose. Your curse can be removed, but my curse needs removing as well, you see."

"Your curse?"

"Yes. You need not know of it. But I am cursed, and you two can bring me what I need to remove it. Destiny has sent you here to do do, I have foreseen it."

I was about to snap back with an angry retort, but Link spoke before I could. "Destinies aren't fixed," he said quietly. "Seven sages saw me return to my home, and yet here I am, and they are all wrong. Fate doesn't demand that we break your curse for you."

The sage stared at Link. Then he laughed. "Perhaps fate does not, but I do. I have the key to your problem. You have the key to mine. Why shouldn't we exchange them?"

Link nodded silently. I muttered a curse under my breath.

"In the mountains not far from here lies a cavern. It is long and deep and full of monsters. I cannot venture there, but you are clearly used to such dangers. Within that cavern lies a box, and within that box a book. Bring me the book and I will tell you what you need to know."

"Very well." Link nodded.

"What?" I couldn't bite back my incredulous outburst. "We have to go fetch some dusty tome for you?"

"I cannot reach it myself. So I require the help of ones such as yourselves."

"If you want an exchange, then why not give us our answer first, and then we can go get the book?"

The sage regarded me from narrowed eyes. "I am not a fool, boy. Even with the best of intentions you might fail, and then I would be left still cursed. Bring me the book first, and you'll have your answer after."

"It's okay Dark, it's not like I haven't done this sort of thing before," said Link.

"And you're an idiot for it!" I snapped at him, the calm of his song already eroding away.

"Dark, please..."

"He's just an old man, we can make him tell us what we need," I growled.

Link looked shocked. "No. Do I need to get out the ocarina to calm you?"

I had never before felt like that was a threat, but it seemed like one now. I snarled something incoherent at him and turned to leave before he could make good on it. Now I had one more reason to hate him, he could use that spell to force me along with whatever he wanted, since when he played it, it made me like him. But no. I shook my head, feeling once again torn between conflicting feelings. He really was my friend, he played only to help me. I knew that. I clung to it, trying to push back the anger that filled me, but it was greater than usual. He was being such an idiot! Here the end of our quest might be in sight and he was going to send us off on some addled mission for an old man who was too lazy to solve his own problems!

A few moments later Link emerged from the shrine. He mounted Epona wordlessly and set out, headed away from town, towards where I could see mountains on the horizon. "Hey! Wait!" I called after him. "I'm not going to go along with this just because you say so!"

He looked down at me from on top of the horse and sighed. "Dark... what else are we supposed to do?"

"Any number of things!"

"Like try to bully an old man into giving us what we want?"

"Well if you don't like that we could ask around the marketplace. He said all he could do was tell us who could break the curse. If we asked enough people I'm sure somebody else would know too."

"So you want to tell your story to the whole town?"

"No! I'm not saying tell people the story, but we could ask after mages, at least. And the old man said that he wasn't going to risk us running off without getting his book, but what's to say that he won't refuse to give us our answer once we have it? Hell, for all I know he doesn't know anything, and is just pretending so that we'll do what he wants!"

"And if that's the case we'll deal with it when the time comes. For now I think this is our best option."

"Well I disagree. Who made you my master anyway?" I was white-hot with fury at this point. Link reached for his ocarina. "And _don't_ play that damned thing at me, just answer me! Why should I follow you off on this ridiculous mission?"

Link sighed, and gave me a wry smile. "Well, for one thing you can't very well try to kill me if you don't come along. And if you're not going to let me play for you, then I assume you are back to wanting me dead?"

"I... damn you. I have no idea what the hell I want, and you know that! I'm going crazy here, I need to have this fixed."

"Then we need to get going, if we're going to get the book and be back in any reasonable sort of time."

I started rattling off every curse I knew, but Link just turned Epona and started down the road. I mounted up and went after him, unable to think of any other options.


	16. Blood and Betrayal

I was still muttering occasional curse words as we threaded our way through the foothills. And it was starting to snow. I directed my curing at Link more often that at the sky, though. Were it not for him I wouldn't be out in this.

The sky was gloomy and the sun just shone through beneath the clouds on the distant horizon when we reached the end of the trail we'd followed. It stopped before the gaping mouth of a black cavern.

Silently we dismounted and led the horses inside. Link was silent because he always was. I was silent because if I said anything it would be a tirade of cursing, and that wouldn't do me any good. Immediately inside the cavern there was no sign of any danger, so we set up our camp there.

Outside big, fat flakes started coming down fast. It looked like a real snowstorm, and I was glad to be out of it. With the cave's shelter, the tent was almost comfortable for once. Link played his ocarina for longer than usual, since his fingers weren't freezing. I just lay and listened while the hate drained from me. I was almost frightened at how angry I'd gotten this time. I'd slipped all the way back to actively plotting Link's death again, and not just occasional thoughts that I quickly fought off, I'd been seriously thinking about how I might do it nearly the whole time we'd ridden.

But even calmed down, and unsettled by how bad my anger had been, I was still not pleased at Link's decision to send us on this detour. Surely there was some other way. We'd been so close! And now we were back in danger, in a situation where some monster might hurt Link, or might provide the opportunity that my hatred sought.

"Link?" I asked when he'd finally finished playing.

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you want me along for this? I'm not safe to have at your back."

"Then I won't turn my back on you."

"Link..."

"It's okay Dark. Just this one cavern and then we'll have the answer, and you won't want to kill me any more."

I sighed and didn't reply. Link climbed into the blankets with me and wrapped his arms around me. I clung to him, glad of his warm, reassuring presence. Even though it was warm enough we might have perhaps slept apart, I didn't want to. I was happy that he seemed to feel the same.

In the morning we gathered up our gear, once again in silence. I slung the Master Sword over my shoulder, pausing to touch the handle, always warm even when I hadn't been carrying it. Link carried his hammer, and I had somewhat mixed feelings about finally seeing him in action with it. It was a very fine weapon. I could recall, from our shared past, what it had been like to use it against the dragon in the fire temple. But I could also recall the feeling of my own bones breaking. The memory stirred up tendrils of hate. Link had killed me, or nearly so. He had defeated me, and I'd been harshly punished for that failure. Why should I not hate the one who had been responsible for me falling under Ganondorf's lash? Maybe it wasn't only magic that made me hate, maybe I did have real reasons, and the song made me forget them.

I brooded on that as we left the entrance chamber and ventured deeper into the cave. There was no light, and soon we found ourselves in total darkness. Link pulled out one of his fire arrows and whispered the simple spell that lit it. That made a good enough torch for us to see by.

"Give me the arrow," I said.

"Huh?"

"I'm going first. You're not supposed to turn your back on me," I said shortly. I regretted it almost as soon as I'd said it. I should have just let him lead the way.

Link didn't reply, he just nodded and handed the arrow over. I took it and started forward, cautiously searching the darkness for signs of keese, or stalfos, or any other sort of monsters that might turn up.

We had gone only a few strides when something moved in the darkness. The arrow's light gleamed off far too many eyes, and as they neared I saw they belonged to blue, bat-winged, demonic creatures. They were like nothing I'd ever seen before, but they were definitely not friendly. Something whistled past me, but I didn't jump, I'd been expecting it. Link was shooting arrows at them. He hit one, dead center between its four white eyes, but to my shock it didn't fall over. Instead it seemed to explode into smaller pieces, and those pieces flapped at me. Keese! I yelped and swung the arrow in my hand at them. If I dropped it we'd be in utter darkness. I managed to hit one, and it fell, keese were actually not that dangerous. They were small and relatively fragile, though they'd happily give you a vicious bite.

The things were getting closer so I rapidly switched the arrow to my right hand and drew my sword. I'd have to do without my shield, I certainly couldn't do without the light. A squeak behind me told me that Link had dealt with another keese, but there were no more arrows. Apparently he didn't want to fill the room full of keese all at once. I didn't blame him.

The first of the oncoming creatures came within range and I swung the Master Sword. It felt so right in my hand, and I found I was grinning as I fought. I struck the creature a nearly perfect blow, and it fell, half-decapitated, and didn't explode into keese. Thank goodness.

Link stepped up beside me, hammer in hand, and he struck the next one right in the chest. I flinched at the crunch of the hammer hitting home. The creature simply dropped. Then another started to circle around behind me, and after that the battle became a whirl of chaos, as the things dodged and dashed around us, their claws reaching for us, their fangs snapping, their too-small wings flapping angrily as they fought. If you nicked one it would turn into several keese, so Link and I both soon learned to only hit them when we had a good chance at a killing blow. But that drew out the battle far longer than usual, and by the time the last demonic thing was dead Link and I were both panting, far more worn that we should have been.

"Let's rest a moment," he said, resting the head of the hammer on the cavern floor. "Need to catch my breath."

"Yeah," I said and sheathed the Master Sword. I still couldn't think of it as my sword. And I still felt that Link had been insane or stupid to give it to me. But then Link seemed to be doing a lot of stupid things lately.

"That was fun," said Link after a moment.

"Ha. I suppose. Though I'd still rather not be doing this. I had a few close calls too many, especially since I have to hold the damn light."

"I could hold it."

"Oh sure, and then you'll be just that much more vulnerable the next time I try to kill you," I snapped. "Idiot."

Link gave me a somewhat annoyed look. "I'm not an idiot. I just..."

"You are an idiot," I interrupted. "If you had any sense we wouldn't be here at all."

Link just sighed and picked up his hammer again. "Let's get going."

I shot him a glare, but drew the Master Sword again. Heaven knows what else we would run into, we'd barely started. And none of it would be needed if Link had been willing to listen to me and try asking around Questra some more. Nor would he need to risk my attacking him! Why did he refuse to even discuss it? Was he so arrogantly sure of his own rightness? Was he so certain he was that much better than me? I snarled silently. It would serve him right if I did manage to injure him. All it would take was a moment of inattention on his part. And there would be many such in the coming battles, I was sure of it. Of course I'd have to pick my time carefully. I didn't want to get killed myself, not if I could help it. But there would surely come a time when Link wasn't expecting me to strike, and when that happened, I would be ready.

Several hours later we were both resting, sitting on the cavern floor this time. We'd fought more demon-things, far too many keese, several stalfos, and a handful of like-like, one of whom had come all too close to sucking me in. I suspected the fire arrow's light had drawn it to me. Now we stood before an actual door, the first thing we'd seen here that had definitely been worked by people. Behind it might merely be more ordinary monsters, but I suspected we would find more than that. The old man's book was probably guarded by something very dangerous. And that fight might well give me my chance to wipe the satisfied smile off of Link's face, perhaps permanently. The fire of anger in me burned higher at the thought, flames of hate licking up hungrily.

I was first through the door. I'd insisted on going first all this time, and I wasn't going to back down on that point now. For one instant I thought the chamber beyond was empty. Vast arches supported a ceiling high overhead, the details of which were lost in shadows. The floor was level, paved in large flagstones. And on the far side of the room I could just make out another door. But between it and I lay an irregular, shadowy mass. It looked like stone, and I thought perhaps it had fallen in from above. But then it moved and two gigantic yellow eyes snapped open.

It was not stone, but the stony skin of a charcoal-black dragon. I dove to one side as it inhaled and blew and blast of fire at me. Link dove to the other. I rolled to my feet, arrow still in hand, though with the dragon's fire still pouring out I hardly needed it. But hopefully the thing would stop soon and then... "Ah hell," I muttered. Then the arrow would make me a target in the darkness. It had been bad enough attracting the smaller monsters, but this thing? I did not want to be the center of its attention!

It took a breath and the room fell dark save for the arrow. I swore under my breath over and over and over as I ran. I wove and dodged frantically, not daring to look back and see if the dragon was aiming at me. Another blast of fire right on my heels, close enough for me to feel the heat, told me it was.

Suddenly light flared brilliantly on the other side of the room. And then the shadows danced madly as the light shot across the chamber and struck the dragon. Link had fired a light arrow at it. The beast roared deafeningly as the arrow sank in. But the light didn't go out, the arrow was stuck in the dragon's side, still glowing, not just the head but the whole shaft. I tossed the fire arrow aside and quickly pulled my shield from my back. Now I could fight!

We charged the dragon from opposite sides, I with the Master Sword, Link with his hammer clutched in both hands. Every time the dragon turned towards one of us, the other struck. We wove and danced around it, and though it breathed fire again and again it was actually easier to dodge close in like this, we could duck around the creature itself and it couldn't blast us without burning its own body.

Its skin looked like stone, but the Master Sword could cut into it, and the hammer was even better, it cracked and shattered the dragon's scales wherever it hit. We couldn't reach very far up that massive body, but it was soon limping and scored with cuts and cracks.

Finally, with another deafening roar, it collapsed. Link jumped up on the dragon's own snout and struck it with the hammer directly between the eyes, and it screeched once more and then fell still and silent.

Link leapt lightly down, panting but grinning. He looked as though he'd just had the time of his life. I scowled, hating him now even more than I had before.

He turned, going around the dragon to the door it had guarded. I trotted up behind him, the Master Sword still in my hand. He hadn't noticed that I hadn't sheathed it. I was so angry that I couldn't feel anything else, there was none of the stomach-clenched eagerness I'd felt on the lake shore so long ago when I'd seen my chance. I was beyond that. But I'd seen it again, now, in Link's green-clad back going through the doorway before me.

I lunged.

The Master Sword sank in easily, so easily. Razor-sharp steel that had cleft dragon's scales didn't even hesitate driving through fabric and flesh.

Link screamed.

The sound turned my blood once more to ice.

Link fell forward, sliding off the blade to the floor. My hand, suddenly nerveless and numb, let go of the sword, which fell after him. The gold and blue of its hilt caught the light that streamed from behind me as it fell. The colors were vivid, as they had been on that very first day, when I had failed. Now I had succeeded, and the blue, gold and green that was Link was turning red. Red soaking his tunic, red on the blade, red everywhere.

Red, the color of my eyes. The color of my betrayal, the color of his. Why had he turned his back on me? He had promised he wouldn't turn his back on me!


	17. Resolutions

The Master Sword clattered to the ground, blood splattering around it where it hit. Link dropped to his knees in my shadow. I was in light, but he was in darkness. That wasn't right.

I couldn't think, my mind was numb, broken. All I could see was red, red everywhere, as though my own eyes were tinting my sight.

Link stayed on his knees, his hands braced on the flagstones, and he refused to fall. Blood soaked his back, and I could hear it, hear drops of it hitting the ground beneath him. I could hear his breathing too, and it sounded wrong, wheezing and bubbling strangely. He turned his head, looked up at me, and blood trickled from his mouth.

His eyes met mine. Blue, so brightly blue even in my shadow.

My paralysis broke. I dropped to my knees by his side, heedless of the blood that soaked the floor, and dug frantically in my pouch. When we had divided up the jars, had I taken the fairy, or had he? I couldn't remember. I pulled out a jar. Potion. Not good enough. I dropped it. The second, potion again. The third, potion. Curse it! Was he carrying the fairy? Would I have to waste precious seconds trying to get at his bag? Then I pulled out the fourth jar and it glowed pink.

I pulled the cork and released the fairy, my heart in my throat. He was still alive, still not fallen to the ground. How he stayed up I didn't know, but he did, somehow, and the fairy fluttered over to him, brushed against him with a sudden shower of gentle pink sparks, and in an instant the horrible sound of his breathing eased to normal.

Then he slumped to the ground, and for a moment I was terrified. Had the fairy failed? Had I been too late?

Gingerly, still half choked with fear, I rolled him over. He blinked up at me, his face drawn and pale, but those blue eyes were still clear and bright. He reached up to me and finally the knot of terror in my throat eased.

Link's hand cupped my cheek weakly. I put mine over his. "Damn you," I said softly, tears sliding down my cheeks. "Damn you, Link. You promised you wouldn't turn your back on me."

"I'm sorry," he said. His voice was too thin, too weak. It didn't sound like him.

"No, no, don't be sorry, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have come with you. I shouldn't have agreed to carry the sword."

"Shh, don't blame yourself Dark. If you hadn't fought with me the dragon might have got me. You're right, I broke my promise. I'm sorry. And I should have stopped, and played for you, when I felt how angry you were getting, I was too focused on just getting the book." He coughed suddenly, a wracking spasm that half choked him. I helped him roll over and held him while he coughed and coughed until the fear rose in me again and I wondered if the fairy hadn't been soon enough after all. He was coughing up blood, far too much of it. A fairy healed damage but it didn't replace blood lost, and it obviously hadn't been able to clear the blood from his lungs either, even though it had repaired the place where they'd been punctured.

Fairies could mend blunt trauma and broken bones as if they'd never existed, but a freely bleeding wound was much more dangerous.

When Link finally stopped coughing I picked up one of the discarded potion bottles and pulled the cork. I held it for him and he drank, the red of the potion no more vivid than the blood already on his lips. Then I laid him back on his back to rest and let the potion take full effect. He was smiling as he looked up at me. Something in me nearly broke to see that smile. How could he smile at me? I had done this to him. I was the reason he was lying there in his own blood.

Link looked deeper into the room and said, "Is the book there?"

I looked up. I hadn't examined the room we were in at all. It looked like a kind of shrine, the walls were covered in carvings that I think were meant to depict the Three, and there was an altar against the far wall. At first I didn't see anything that might be the book, but then I noticed a box sitting in one corner of the room.

I got up and went over to it. The box wasn't an ordinary chest, it seemed to be made of stone, and was flat on top. But the lid opened all the same, and inside there was a book. I picked it up. All this trouble over such a small thing. I felt a flicker of anger. Why hadn't Link listened to me? Bitter self-hatred immediately smothered anger. This wasn't Link's fault, it was mine, entirely mine.

Link had sat up when I returned. I handed him the book. "I wonder what this is?" he said. He opened it and flipped through a few pages, but the writing was in some language that neither of us knew. Link tucked it into his bag. "We should go."

I nodded and helped him to his feet. He swayed and had to lean on me for a moment. "Are you all right? We can rest longer?"

"Just a little light-headed. I'd rather not stay here."

"We'll go slowly then."

"You should get your sword," said Link, nodded towards where the Master Sword still lay, covered in blood.

I shuddered. "It's not my sword. I'm not touching it again."

"Dark..."

"No! You never should have given it to me! I won't take it!"

Link sighed. "We can't leave it here, Dark. It's the Master Sword and even if you don't want it, somebody has to carry it. Forgive me if I'd rather not right now."

"I... I'm sorry." I went over and picked up the blade. I felt as though it should have changed somehow, been tainted by how I'd misused it. Or perhaps that it should burn my hand, since I was no longer worthy to touch the sacred blade. But it felt the same as always. I wiped the blade clean and sheathed it. "All right. But I should just put it in your bag. I don't want to carry it, Link. I don't want to risk hurting you again. We don't have any more fairies."

"I'm in no condition to fight, Dark. What if we run into more monsters? We can't be sure we've completely cleared this cave of them. You need to carry it."

"Link, please... I can't! I'll kill you this time, if I attack you again. I can't do it."

"We might both die if you don't."

"I'd rather die. I should be dead. You should never have saved me, Link. I'm so sorry." There were tears in my eyes again, hurt and fear and self-hatred twisting inside me.

"Dark..." Link put his arms around me, and stroked my hair. "You don't have to be sorry. It's not your fault."

"It is. I'm the one who nearly killed you."

"Ganondorf is the one who put a spell on you, blame him if you're going to blame anyone."

"I still can't be trusted. Please Link, I _can't_."

"I'll play for you," said Link. "Your song, so that you don't need to worry. Please Dark, you need to carry the sword."

"I... all right."

Link ended up having to hum, for he was too weak to walk far without leaning on me, and with one arm over my shoulders he couldn't play, but it was enough. The soft notes in my ear calmed and stilled me, and I was able to support him without fear as we made our way out of the cave.

He turned out to be wiser than I, for we encountered several more of the keese-demons. Link merely stood aside while I fought them. I killed them with dark brutality, taking out the hatred that I felt for myself on the creatures. For I was away from Link's song while I fought, and while I smothered any hint of anger at him, I couldn't so easily stifle the anger I felt towards myself. He should have left me to die, back in the Water Temple. He should have left me to die and none of this would have happened.

Finally we emerged into the entrance cavern. The horses were still there. The snow was still gently sifting down outside. It had felt like an eternity, but in fact we'd only been gone a few hours.

I tended to Link. I built a small fire and melted snow to clean him. I took off his ruined clothing, and washed his bloodstained skin. The horrible wound I'd given him had closed, there wasn't even a scar, but he was still weak, and he let me tend him without protest. I tucked him into the bedroll when I was done, and he immediately fell asleep.

Then I took care of myself, stripping off my stained clothing. I removed the Master Sword from my back and set it on the far side of the cavern. I swore I would never touch it again. I tended to the horses, made sure they were comfortable and had enough food. With that done, and with nothing left to do, I climbed inside the tent and sat, watching Link sleep. His face was pale, and he looked horribly fragile. Guilt took hold of me as I looked down on him. Guilt and fear. What if the old man was wrong, and whoever he knew couldn't remove my curse, what then? I would certainly keep trying to kill Link and eventually I was going to succeed. This had been all too close, and now we were out of fairies. But even with a full supply I might still manage to kill him. If I'd been just a few seconds later reaching that jar...

I could try to leave him, but that was futile too. Once I fell back into hatred I would seek him out again, I knew I would. I could remember plotting to kill him only hours ago. I'd plot again, and try again, and keep trying until he was dead.

There was only one solution that would work. If my curse of hatred couldn't be lifted, I would have to kill myself.

That thought was, surprisingly, a relief. I felt a gentle peace sift down over me. There was a solution to this problem, even if the sage's solution failed us. I could end this, and leave Link alive, free to be the hero he needed to be, free to continue to fight and protect those who couldn't fight for themselves. That was who he was, what he needed to do. He didn't need to constantly guard his back against his shadow.


	18. His Light's Song

We were at the shrine again. It felt like it had been weeks, rather than just two days since we'd left it. We both looked just as we had when we'd left, though Link was wearing his blue Zora's tunic, since the green one had been damaged beyond repair. I felt as though we ought to look changed somehow by what had happened. Link was strong enough to ride, and said he felt completely recovered, but I just couldn't shake the image of him kneeling in a pool of his own blood, the Master Sword lying beside him. He was wearing the Master Sword now, I had refused to take it again. Until this curse was broken I was going to go unarmed, and if something killed me, so be it. But we had reached the shrine without incident, and now it was time to see if the sage's word could be trusted.

We dismounted and went inside. Link wordlessly held out the book. I too said nothing, conflict churning inside me. I felt hatred flare again, but this time it wasn't directed at Link, it was directed at the sage. Link glanced over at me and put his hand on my shoulder, and I fought to relax.

"Thank you," said the sage as he took the small volume. "And now I will complete my side of our bargain. As I said, there is a person who can break the curse on Dark." He nodded at me. Then he smiled, and there was a peculiar twinkle in his eye. "That person is you, Link."

"What?" Link looked startled.

I was started too, and immediately suspicious. "What are you talking about? Link is no mage."

"Magic is only a small part of what's needed, and he has sufficient. I knew that when I saw the effect his singing had."

"I don't understand," said Link. "Yes my song temporarily lifts Dark's affliction, but the effect wears off, I explained that to you earlier."

"It can be made permanent, with the right... spell, shall we say."

"But how? You know a song I could play, or...?"

The sage chuckled. He seemed very amused by our confusion, and I gave him a glare. "Link, the thing that powers your spell is not the song itself. It doesn't matter what notes you play, what's reaching Dark and lifting the hatred from him isn't the music, it's what you're projecting through your song." He stepped up and placed his hand over Link's chest. "It's your heart, Link. Your feelings. Those are what works the magic. The music is only a channel, that lets your heart, your light shine through."

"That doesn't make any sense," I said irritably. "I can sense Link's feelings any time he's near me, not just when he's playing. If feelings did it, then I wouldn't have this problem at all."

"You sense what lies on the surface, not what is buried deep beneath."

"So you have some spell that will make these buried feelings come out, is that it?"

"No spell I can craft can bring the true heart of a person to the surface. Link has to do that himself. Though there are words he could speak. A spell always requires words. When you light an arrow..." He gave Link a significant look.

"When I light an arrow, I speak a word that means light," said Link in soft, thoughtful tones. "And for what I feel..." He looked at me. Something in his eyes made my chest tighten. I looked at him, looked once more into those still blue pools of calm. He smiled gently at me, and I felt something strange, something I'd felt before and never had a name for, well up in me suddenly. I felt it in him too. He hummed again, the brief phrase that was my song. But it didn't need to remove my hatred this time, the nameless emotion that filled me had already drowned it.

"Link?" I said softly, wonderingly. I didn't understand what was happening, but I wasn't angry, or afraid, or hurt anymore. I was surrounded by magic, and emotion, and peace, all of it held in those deep blue eyes.

"I think I know the word for what I feel," said Link, still looking at me. "Dark... I love you."

It was like dawn breaking. Like the moment when Link lit an arrow. Like when he kissed me. Like the moment when I'd given him my trust and put my life in his hands, what seemed like an eternity ago. It was, even, like the peace I had felt when I had decided to die for him, and I knew now why I had been so willing to make that resolution. I knew too the name of the nameless emotion I had felt before, that filled me now. "Oh Link," I said, finding tears suddenly springing up in my eyes, "I love you too."

He put his arms around me, and kissed me, sweetly, softly. I kissed him back, feeling as though I might explode with light, like my heart might leap out of my chest. Like nothing I'd ever felt before, because it was so much more, so much better. It was pure light, and love, and it burned the darkness and the hatred out of me until there was none left at all.


	19. Happily Ever After

"Where to now?" I asked Link.

He looked around, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I'm not sure." His gaze wandered to the mountains, where there would no doubt be more monsters, further adventures. Then he turned his eyes back to the town. He chuckled. "Actually yes I am. I am sure I want to sleep for about a week. In a warm bed, preferably. How about you?"

"Yeah. That sounds great."

"Well, we should have enough rupees, between what Sage Bertram gave us and what we got in the cave, to stay a few nights at least, and buy some supplies before we set out again too."

"Good." I smiled at him. He smiled back.

It didn't take very long to find an inn and secure a room. There were still several hours left until sunset, but neither of us minded retiring early. It had been a long day. And more than just one. I hadn't slept in a bed since leaving Lon Lon well over a month ago. It seemed Link felt the same way, for when we reached the room he went straight to the bed and flopped down on it, still clothed.

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Tired?" I sat down on the edge of the bed next to him and kicked my boots off.

"Yes." He opened his eyes and looked up at me, smiling a small, wry smile. "A great deal has happened since I last slept in a bed."

"Yeah."

"More good than bad though," he said, and reached up to stroke my cheek.

I smiled down at him, and for a long time we just looked at each other.

"You know, it's strange," said Link, still smiling up at me. "One might think that red eyes would be frightening, but yours have never been. They're beautiful."

I felt my cheeks heating. I didn't know what to say in response to that. Link provided the answer by reaching up again, working his fingers through my hair, and pulling me down for a kiss. I closed my eyes and kissed him back. It was gentle, sweetly passionate, an expression of the love we had both admitted earlier. It was completely wonderful.

When we at last broke apart Link scooted over on the bed, and I took his invitation and laid down next to him. He put one arm over me, pulled me close. I slid my arm over his waist and pressed against him. It was good to be close to him. He kissed me again and I kissed back. This kiss had more heat in it, and we were both panting a bit when we pulled back. Link's cheeks were flushed, and I was was sure mine were as well. I wanted more, but I didn't know what to do. But Link stroked my hair again, running his fingers gently through it, pulling my head to rest against his shoulder. I relaxed, enjoying the caress. After a moment, however, Link softly said, "Dark?"

"Hmm?"

"I... uhm... the thing you did before, the biting... I really liked that. Could you...?"

"Yes..." I nuzzled into the side of his neck, and started to nibble there, being careful to be gentle. I didn't want to hurt him. He gasped at the touch of my fangs, but it was a sound of pleasure, not pain. Link's hand twisted in my hair, holding my head against him, encouraging me to continue. I nipped and kissed his soft, warm skin everywhere I could reach, but his high-collared undershirt was in the way. After a moment I pulled back and set about removing it and his tunic with it. Link cooperated willingly, but before I could return to what I'd been doing he started to pull my shirt off as well.

Then it was my turn to feel his teeth against my skin. He had no fangs, but he was rougher than I'd been with him, and I cried out as he bit down hard. But the pain was somehow good, an exciting rush of sensation that made my heart beat faster. After a moment Link stopped suddenly, and pushed me onto my back. I blinked up at him, surprised. He straddled me and smiled down at me.

"What are you doing?"

He chuckled softly. "I have no idea. Just... trying whatever comes to mind. You seem to be enjoying it so far."

I smiled. "Yes."

"That's good. Especially since I have quite a few more things to try."

"And here I thought you wanted to rest."

Link laughed. "There will be plenty of time for rest later. Much later." And his grin when he looked down at me was almost predatory.

It was indeed much, much later when we finally slept, happily exhausted in each other's arms. I thought, as I drifted off, that it was a miracle that someone like me, a shadow brought to life as a weapon, should be able to have such happiness.

_Dark magic blazed from my hands. The hero swung his sword, and sent it back in my face. I howled my rage at him and blasted more power at him. More and more, cascading bolts of evil blasting the hated face until he fell. And fall he did, his body sprawling limply on the ground, his blue eyes staring up, wide and unseeing forever more._

_I had won at last! My revenge was complete, and now there was no one to stop me. I laughed and laughed and laughed..._

I woke with a scream. "No! No, no, no, no, no, please goddesses no!"

Link beside me reached for me, his voice drowsy. "Dark? What is it?"

"No! Don't touch me!" I scrambled away from him, off the edge of the bed, to crouch panting on the floor.

"Have another nightmare?"

"Yes! The one where I _kill_ you!"

"Dark, it's okay."

"No it isn't. I still can't be trusted! I need to leave you." _I need to just die, so you'll be safe..._

Link climbed out of the bed and knelt next to me. "It was just a dream, Dark."

"Not just a dream. You know the dreams come from Ganondorf. If I'm still dreaming his dreams..."

"Then that just means that the hatred he cursed you with and the dreams aren't directly tied together," interrupted Link firmly.

"But..."

"Dark, you won't hurt me just because of a dream."

"I might. I've almost killed you."

"And you were completely lost in anger when you did. Anger that I can sense, Dark. I'd know, and so would you, if you started hating me again. This is just a dream, that's all. It's not the same thing."

"But doesn't it have to be the same, if the ocarina song keeps me from dreaming, and that's what made me stop hating? If the dreams are still here, the curse isn't broken."

"Magic isn't necessarily that simple. And neither of us knows enough to know why you might still be dreaming. But I do know one thing." He put his arms around me, and held me even though I tried to pull away. "I know I love you, Dark. And you love me. Nothing, not dreams, not Ganondorf, not the Goddesses themselves, can change that."

"Link... please..." I felt tears gathering in my eyes. "I couldn't bear it if I hurt you again. I don't want to risk it."

Link held me tighter, and kissed the top of my head. "Pain is a part of living. A part of loving too, I think."

"But I nearly killed you!" I was crying now, filled with fear and loss.

"Dark... Look at me, Dark." I looked up, meeting those calm blue eyes. "I've risked my life since I was a little boy. I don't fear death. I've risked my life for people I hardly know. I will happily risk it for the one I love. But that won't happen. I know what I felt yesterday, and what you felt too. Trust in that. Trust in us. I'm sure we'll both go through a lot of pain in the years to come. Life is like that, you don't just reach a point where you've gotten your heart's desire and then everything is easy. But life is worth living anyway." He smiled gently, and wiped the tears from my cheek. "I used to wish with all my heart that I could have a fairy, like the other Kokiri. When that wish was granted, I didn't suddenly get a perfect life. Our love is a wish come true, but I'm sure we'll have a lot to struggle with all the same. This is the first of I'm sure many difficulties. But that's all it is, Dark. Just a rocky spot on a road that we're traveling together. Ahead there are many wonderful things along that road. Believe me."

I looked up at him. I wanted to believe him, but I was so afraid. What if he was wrong? What if I tried to kill him again? He trusted me now, that just made him more vulnerable.

"Do you love me, Dark?"

"Yes..."

"Do you _want_ to be alone, without me?"

"I... no..."

"I love you too, Dark. I don't want to be alone. I don't want to be without you. I would rather die at your hand tomorrow than have you leave me tonight. So stay. Stay and be with me. I'll play away your nightmares every night for the next hundred years, if that's what I need to do. Stay. Please." Tears gathered in Link's eyes, and I realized that I could sense fear radiating from him. He was terrified that I might leave.

I hesitated. My own fear was strong. But I knew he was telling the truth when he said he'd rather die tomorrow than lose me. So even if I left, I would hurt him. And I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay with him, to be held by his strong arms forever. To hear him play away my dreams for a hundred years, as he had promised to. To be by his side as he adventured, to see the world together. I wanted all that, and whatever else might come with it.

Thinking of that future stirred the love in me, that warmth at my center that was so much stronger than the fire of hate had been. It had banished hate, and now it banished fear as well.

And so I could do nothing else but reach out, and brush a tear from his cheek, and say, "I'll stay. Always. You're mad, and I'm mad too, but I'll stay. I promise."


	20. One Hundred Years of Songs

It was a bright, sunny day.

I had the urge to get out my ocarina, that had been his once, and play the Song of Storms. It seemed wrong that the sun should shine so brightly on a day like this. It should be raining. The sky should be mourning with me. Everyone should be mourning with me. But there were only a handful of us there to watch the Hero of Time laid in his final resting place.

They had built him a mausoleum worthy of a king. Even if most didn't remember, those of us who did had insisted on it. It stood next to the smaller one where Zelda lay. They had been close, though in a different way than he and I. It was fitting that they lie together.

And I should have been there too. I didn't know why I wasn't. That a shadow could outlive the one who cast it seemed both impossible and cruel, but I was here all the same, standing next to those few of his friends who remained.

Though now the ceremony was over, and they too were turning to leave. I couldn't. I could only stand numbly, staring at the Triforce they'd carved on the mausoleum, with his name beneath it.

"Dark? Are you going to be all right?"

I looked down at Saria. She looked the same as always, like a child of no more than twelve, though she was far, far older than that. I was older than I looked as well...

"I don't know. I thought... I mean... I knew something strange was going on when I didn't age like he did, Saria. But I always thought that when he died I'd go with him. I'm his shadow. I've always been his shadow. How can a shadow exist with nothing to cast it?"

She reached up and took my hand. "You're yourself, Dark. You were his shadow, but you've become much more."

"I still shouldn't be here. I should be in there, with him."

"Maybe you're still here for a reason."

"What reason could there possibly be for me to live on, alone?" I felt tears gathering in my eyes. I wasn't sure I could face a life without him. And how long of a life would it be? I still looked seventeen, just as I had on the day I was created. How much longer would I live? How could the Goddesses allow me to live for an eternity, alone?

"Dark..." Saria was silent for a long time, then she finally said, "He wasn't the first, you know."

I looked down at her with blank incomprehension. "What are you talking about?"

"Link. He wasn't the first legendary hero to use the Master Sword. There have been others. There will be others in the future. Hyrule's history repeats itself in an endless cycle. You know that Hyrule's princesses are often named Zelda. But there's a deeper truth than that. Those princesses sometimes _are_ Zelda. The same soul, born again when Hyrule needs her strength. And not just Zelda. The Hero is always the same Hero. Just as Ganondorf still lives, sealed away, in a way they both still live too. They'll return when their kingdom needs them. And so..."

"I see." I considered this. I had known there had been past heroes. Had they all really been Link, my Link? The last wielder of the Master Sword had been so long ago that history didn't record his name. Which brought another thought to my mind. "How long then? How long will it be until Ganondorf awakes, and Link and Zelda are born again?"

Saria shook her head. "I don't know. Not soon, the seals that hold him are strong."

I sighed. "So I can hope, perhaps, to see Link again, but not for centuries, is that it?"

She squeezed my hand gently. "The fates are not so cruel as that, Dark. Yes it will be centuries, but you don't need to live them out alone. You too can sleep. In the sacred realm, sealed away to sleep until Link is reborn. We are all your friends, we sages. We can do that much for you. "

Some of the despair that had gripped me at the thought of hundreds of years alone eased. "Thank you," I said.

"Understand, Dark, that when he's born again Link won't remember you. He'll be the same soul, but a different person. He won't love you right away. He may never love you."

"But I can be there for him, to help him. If he's reborn when Ganondorf is freed he'll need that."

"Yes."

"Then that will be enough."

* * *

The green-clad young man takes a deep breath as he faces the portal. He doesn't know where it will lead, but he hopes it will aid him in his quest. He is afraid, but his courage is strong enough to overcome fear. So he steps through.

On the other side the world is both like and unlike that which he just left. He is still high atop a mountain's slopes. The land around him is still stony and barren. But the color of the earth is subtly different. It's somehow sickly, as though the ground itself were poisoned. And the sky above looks sick as well, hazy and brown rather than clear and blue. There are a few strange plants, unnatural purple rather than healthy green.

With a yelp the youth realizes that he too has been altered. His hands are no longer hands but paws, unsuited to using the sword he has come to depend on. They're covered in pink fur. He has a moment of panic, but he calms himself. Looking around he can see no enemies. He is in no danger for now.

"Hello."

The youth jumps and spins around. Standing where a moment ago he knows there was nothing is a man. He is young too, though he seems to be a few years older and some inches taller than the youth who faces him. His hair is jet black, his eyes are red. He is dressed in a black tunic, and carries a sword and shield slung over his back.

"Who are you?"

He smiles. "My name is Dark. And you are Link."

"Yes," says the youth suspiciously. Unspoken is the question, how does this stranger know who he is?

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"Waiting?"

"Yes. I'm a friend, Link. I've watched you as you've grown, though I could never come to your world. The seal that separates light and dark keeps me here. But that seal may soon be broken."

"Aghanim." The boy speaks the name darkly.

The stranger nods. "He is my enemy as much as he is yours. I'll help you in your quest any way that I can. Though while the seal stands my help is limited. For now I can tell you that you'll need to obtain the moon pearl, so you can remain yourself and able to fight."

The boy looks the stranger up and down. "You seem to have one. Can you give it to me?"

"I have none to give. I remain myself because the dark world is my home. But the castle you seek contains one. Return to the light world, continue with your quest. When next you visit the dark world I'll be there to aid you."

"How do I get back?"

"The mirror you carry will take you back."

The boy nods, and pulls out the magical item. Then he pauses. He looks at the stranger, who is somehow familiar, despite the fact that the boy knows they have never met. He starts to say something, pauses, and then finally says, "Thank you."

And then the mirror's magic takes him away, and the stranger is left standing alone.

"Good luck Link," he says softly. He wipes a hint of moisture from his eyes, but he is smiling. The hero has returned, and once again, soon, his shadow will fight by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, and also thank you for the kudos, I really appreciate them! :D 
> 
> There *may* be a sequel to this, I have some ideas, but I have a lot of other stories I want to tell first, so it will be a while before I come back to this one. Next, in fact, I'll be posting another LoZ story I'm currently writing that has a very different take on a Link/Dark Link relationship. (Which is to say it's not going to be yaoi/romance.) I'll start posting that tomorrow, so stick around.


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